Pretty vs Fancy - What's the difference?
pretty | fancy |
Cunning; clever, skilful.
* 1877 , George Hesekiel and Bayard Taylor, Bismarck his Authentic Biography , page 380:
Pleasant in sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=17 * 2010 , Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian , 4 Feb 2010:
Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing.
* 2010 , Lia Leendertz, The Guardian , 13 Feb 2010:
* 1962 , "New Life for the Liberals", Time , 28 Sep 1962:
(dated) Moderately large; considerable.
*, I.2.4.vii:
*
, title= * 2004 , "Because They're Worth it", Time , 26 Jan 04:
(dated) Excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.).
* 1815 , (Jane Austen), Emma , Boston 1867, page 75:
* 1919 , (Saki), ‘The Oversight’, The Toys of Peace :
* 1926 , (Ernest Hemingway), , page 251:
(ironic) Awkward, unpleasant.
* 1931 , "Done to a Turn", Time , 26 Jan 1931:
Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.
* 1723 , Charles Walker, Memoirs of Sally Salisbury , V:
* 1859 , (Charles Darwin), The Origin of Species , I:
* , chapter=1
, title= * 2002 , , The Great Nation , Penguin 2003, page 539:
Something that is pretty.
* 1939 , Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf, ''
To make pretty; to beautify
* {{quote-book, 2007, Eric Knight, Lassie Come-Home
, passage=He sat on the hearth rug and began prettying the dog's coat.}}
The imagination.
* Milton
An image or representation of anything formed in the mind; conception; thought; idea.
* Shakespeare
An opinion or notion formed without much reflection; an impression.
* John Locke
A whim.
Love or amorous attachment.
The object of inclination or liking.
* Shakespeare
Any sport or hobby pursued by a group.
The enthusiasts of such a pursuit.
* De Quincey
A diamond with a distinctive colour.
That which pleases or entertains the taste or caprice without much use or value.
* Mortimer
(obsolete) A sort of love song or light impromptu ballad.
In the game of jacks, a style of play involving additional actions (contrasted with plainsies).
* 1970 , Marta Weigle, Follow my fancy: the book of jacks and jack games (page 22)
* 2002 , Elizabeth Dana Jaffe, ?Sherry L. Field, ?Linda D. Labbo, Jacks (page 26)
Decorative.
Of a superior grade.
Executed with skill.
(colloquial) Unnecessarily complicated.
(obsolete) Extravagant; above real value.
* Macaulay
(formal) To appreciate without jealousy or greed.
(British) would like
(British, informal) To be sexually attracted to.
(dated) To imagine, suppose.
* John Locke
* Thackeray
* 1895 , H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
To form a conception of; to portray in the mind; to imagine.
* Dryden
To have a fancy for; to like; to be pleased with, particularly on account of external appearance or manners.
* Shakespeare
In lang=en terms the difference between pretty and fancy
is that pretty is excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.) while fancy is to imagine, suppose.As adjectives the difference between pretty and fancy
is that pretty is cunning; clever, skilful while fancy is decorative.As nouns the difference between pretty and fancy
is that pretty is something that is pretty while fancy is the imagination.As verbs the difference between pretty and fancy
is that pretty is to make pretty; to beautify while fancy is to appreciate without jealousy or greed.As an adverb pretty
is somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.pretty
English
Alternative forms
* pooty (nonstandard) * purdy (nonstandard) * (l) (dialectal) * (l), (l) (obsolete)Adjective
(er)- In the end, however, it was a very pretty shot, right across the chasm; killed first fire, and the brute fell headlong into the brook [...].
citation, passage=The face which emerged was not reassuring. […]. He was not a mongol but there was a deficiency of a sort there, and it was not made more pretty by a latter-day hair cut which involved eccentrically long elf-locks and oiled black curls.}}
- To escape a violent beating from sailors to whom he has sold a non-functioning car, Jerry takes his stepfamily for a holiday in a trailer park miles away, where, miraculously, young Nick meets a very pretty young woman called Sheeni, played by Portia Doubleday.
- 'Petit Posy' brassicas [...] are a cross between kale and brussels sprouts, and are really very pretty with a mild, sweet taste.
- Damned by the Socialists as "traitors to the working class," its leaders were decried by Tories as "faceless peddlers of politics with a pretty little trinket for every taste."
- they flung all the goods in the house out at the windows into the street, or into the sea, as they supposed; thus they continued mad a pretty season […].
Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=A chap named Eleazir Kendrick and I had chummed in together the summer afore and built a fish-weir and shanty at Setuckit Point, down Orham way. For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand.}}
- "What did you do to your hair?" The answer could be worth a pretty penny for L'Oreal.
- Some people are surprised, I believe, that that the eldest was not [named after his father], but Isabella would have him named Henry, which I thought very pretty of her.
- ‘This new fashion of introducing the candidate's children into an election contest is a pretty one,’ said Mrs. Panstreppon; ‘it takes away something from the acerbity of party warfare, and it makes an interesting experience for the children to look back on in after years.’
- "Oh, Jake." Brett said, "we could have had such a damned good time together." Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed suddenly pressing Brett against me. "Yes", I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?"
- His sadistic self-torturings finally landed him in a pretty mess: still completely married, practically sure he was in love with Tillie, he made dishonorable proposals of marriage to two other women.
Quotations
* (ironic use: ) * 1995 , Les Standiford, Deal to die for , page 123: *: "[...] you can still see where the kid's face is swollen up from this talk: couple of black eyes, lip all busted up, nose over sideways," Driscoll shook his head again, "just a real pretty picture."Antonyms
* uglyDerived terms
* just another pretty face * not a pretty sight * not just a pretty face * PDQ * prettify * prettiness * pretty as a picture * pretty boy * pretty-faced wallaby * Pretty Good Privacy * pretty much * pretty pass * pretty penny * pretty please * Pretty Polly * pretty-pretty * pretty-spoken * purdy * sitting prettyAdverb
(-)- By the Sheets you have sent me to peruse, the Account you have given of her Birth and Parentage is pretty exact [...].
- It seems pretty clear that organic beings must be exposed during several generations to the new conditions of life to cause any appreciable amount of variation [...].
Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
- The Revolutionary decade was a pretty challenging time for business.
Usage notes
* When particularly stressed, the adverb (term) serves almost to diminish the adjective or adverb that it modifies, by emphasizing that there are greater levels of intensity.Derived terms
* pretty much * pretty wellNoun
(pretties)- "We'll stop at the knife store a look at the sharp pretties .
- I'll get you, my pretty , and your little dog, too!
Verb
citation
Derived terms
* pretty upfancy
English
Alternative forms
* (all obsolete)Noun
(fancies)- In the soul / Are many lesser faculties, that serve / Reason as chief. Among these fancy next / Her office holds.
- How now, my lord! why do you keep alone, / Of sorriest fancies your companions making?
- I have always had a fancy that learning might be made a play and recreation to children.
- I had a fancy to learn to play the flute.
- He took a fancy to her.
- to fit your fancies to your father's will
- Trainspotting is the fancy of a special lot.
- the cat fancy
- He fell out of favor with the boxing fancy after the incident.
- a great book sale in London, which had congregated all the fancy
- London pride is a pretty fancy for borders.
- (Shakespeare)
- When you have mastered plainsies, the regular jack game, and have learned all the rules, you will be ready to use this part of the book. A fancy is a variation of plainsies which usually requires more skill than plainsies does.
- When you get good at jacks, try adding a fancy . A fancy is an extra round at the end of a game. It makes the game a little harder. Jack Be Nimble, Around the World, or Black Widow are some fancies.
Derived terms
* flight of fancy * tickle someone's fancyAdjective
(er)- This is a fancy shawl.
- This box contains bottles of the fancy grade of jelly.
- He initiated the game winning play with a fancy , deked saucer pass to the winger.
- I'm not keen on him and his fancy ideas.
- This anxiety never degenerated into a monomania, like that which led his [Frederick the Great's] father to pay fancy prices for giants.
Synonyms
* (decorative) decorative, ornate * (unnecessarily complicated) highfalutinAntonyms
* (decorative) plain, simple * (unnecessarily complicated) simpleVerb
(en-verb)- I fancy your new car, but I like my old one just fine.
- I fancy a burger tonight for dinner
- Do you fancy going to town this weekend?
- I fancy that girl over there.
- I fancy you'll want something to drink after your long journey.
- Fancy meeting you here!
- Fancy that! I saw Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy kissing in the garden.
- If our search has reached no farther than simile and metaphor, we rather fancy than know.
- He fancied he was welcome, because those around him were his kinsmen.
- I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable.
- he whom I fancy , but can ne'er express
- We fancy not the cardinal.