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Handsome vs. Pretty

Handsome and Pretty Definitions

Handsome

Pleasing in form or appearance, especially having strong or distinguished features
A handsome man.
A woman with a handsome face.

Pretty

Pleasing or attractive in a graceful or delicate way.

Handsome

Having stately or attractive proportions or appearance; impressive
A handsome manor.
A sleek, handsome car.

Pretty

Clever; adroit
A pretty maneuver.

Handsome

Large in amount or measure; generous or considerable
A handsome reward.
Won by a handsome margin.

Pretty

Very bad; terrible
In a pretty predicament.
A situation that has reached a pretty pass.
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Handsome

Marked by or requiring skill or dexterity
Did some handsome maneuvers on the skating rink.

Pretty

Ostensibly or superficially attractive but lacking substance or conviction
Full of pretty phrases.

Handsome

Appropriate or fitting
A handsome location for the new school.

Pretty

(Informal) Considerable in size or extent
A pretty fortune.

Handsome

Having a pleasing appearance, good-looking, attractive, particularly
That is one handsome tree you've got there.

Pretty

To a fair degree; moderately
A pretty good student.
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Handsome

Attractively manly, having a pleasing face and overall effect.
I was tripping over his own feet coming in out of the surf.

Pretty

In a pretty manner; prettily or pleasingly.

Handsome

Statuesque, beautiful in a masculine or otherwise imposing way.
She was either handsome or her uniform created a flattering effect but—being very nearsighted—he couldn't tell from this distance.

Pretty

One that is pretty.

Handsome

Good, appealing, appropriate.

Pretty

Pretties Delicate clothing, especially lingerie.
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Handsome

(of weather) Fine, clear and bright.

Pretty

To make pretty
Pretty up the house.

Handsome

Suitable or fit in action; marked with propriety and ease; appropriate.
A handsome style

Pretty

Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.

Handsome

Generous or noble in character.
Handsome is as handsome does.

Pretty

Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing.

Handsome

Ample; moderately large.
A handsome salary

Pretty

Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty.

Handsome

Dexterous; skillful.

Pretty

Cunning; clever, skilful.

Handsome

To render handsome.

Pretty

(dated) Moderately large; considerable.

Handsome

Dexterous; skillful; handy; ready; convenient; - applied to things as persons.
That they [engines of war] be both easy to be carried and handsome to be moved and turned about.
For a thief it is so handsome as it may seem it was first invented for him.

Pretty

(dated) Excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.).

Handsome

Agreeable to the eye or to correct taste; having a pleasing appearance or expression; attractive; having symmetry and dignity; comely; - expressing more than pretty, and less than beautiful; as, a handsome man or woman; a handsome garment, house, tree, horse.

Pretty

(ironic) Awkward, unpleasant.

Handsome

Suitable or fit in action; marked with propriety and ease; graceful; becoming; appropriate; as, a handsome style, etc.
Easiness and handsome address in writing.

Pretty

Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.

Handsome

Evincing a becoming generosity or nobleness of character; liberal; generous.
Handsome is as handsome does.

Pretty

(dialect) Prettily, in a pretty manner.

Handsome

Ample; moderately large.
He . . . accumulated a handsome sum of money.

Pretty

A pretty person; a term of address to a pretty person.

Handsome

To render handsome.

Pretty

Something that is pretty.
We'll stop at the knife store and look at the sharp pretties.

Handsome

Pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion;
A fine-looking woman
A good-looking man
Better-looking than her sister
Very pretty but not so extraordinarily handsome
Our southern women are well-favored

Pretty

To make pretty; to beautify

Handsome

Given or giving freely;
Was a big tipper
The bounteous goodness of God
Bountiful compliments
A freehanded host
A handsome allowance
Saturday's child is loving and giving
A liberal backer of the arts
A munificent gift
Her fond and openhanded grandfather

Pretty

Pleasing by delicacy or grace; attracting, but not striking or impressing; of a pleasing and attractive form a color; having slight or diminutive beauty; neat or elegant without elevation or grandeur; pleasingly, but not grandly, conceived or expressed; as, a pretty face; a pretty flower; a pretty poem.
This is the prettiest lowborn lass that everRan on the greensward.

Pretty

Moderately large; considerable; as, he had saved a pretty fortune.

Pretty

Affectedly nice; foppish; - used in an ill sense.
The pretty gentleman is the most complaisant in the world.

Pretty

Mean; despicable; contemptible; - used ironically; as, a pretty trick; a pretty fellow.

Pretty

Stout; strong and brave; intrepid; valiant.
[He] observed they were pretty men, meaning not handsome.

Pretty

In some degree; moderately; considerably; rather; almost; - less emphatic than very; as, I am pretty sure of the fact; pretty cold weather.
Pretty plainly professes himself a sincere Christian.

Pretty

Pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing;
Pretty girl
Pretty song
Pretty room

Pretty

(used ironically) unexpectedly bad;
A pretty mess
A pretty kettle of fish

Pretty

Used as an intensifier (`jolly' is used informally in Britain);
Pretty big
Pretty bad
Jolly decent of him

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