different between delicate vs pretty

English

Etymology

From Middle English delicat, from Latin delicatus (“giving pleasure, delightful, soft, luxurious, delicate, in Medieval Latin also fine, slender”), from delicia, usually in plural deliciae (“pleasure, delight, luxury”), from delicere (“to allure”), from de (“away”) + lacere (“to allure, entice”). Compare Spanish delgado (“thin, skinny”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?l?k?t/

Adjective

delicate (comparative more delicate, superlative most delicate)

1. Easily damaged or requiring careful handling.
2. Characterized by a fine structure or thin lines.

3. Intended for use with fragile items.

4. Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; said of manners, conduct, or feelings.

5. Of weak health; easily sick; unable to endure hardship.
6. (informal) Unwell, especially because of having drunk too much alcohol.

   Please don't speak so loudly: I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning.

7. (obsolete) Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring.
   • circa 1660, John Evelyn (author), William Bray (editor), The Diary of John Evelyn, volume I of II (1901), entry for the 19th of August in 1641, page 29:

     Haerlem is a very delicate town and hath one of the fairest churches of the Gothic design I had ever seen.

8. Pleasing to the senses; refined; adapted to please an elegant or cultivated taste.

9. Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful.
   • circa 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello, act II, scene iii, lines 18 and 20–21:

     Cassio:   She’s a most exquisite lady.…Indeed, she’s a most fresh and delicate creature.

10. Light, or softly tinted; said of a colour.

11. Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious.
12. Highly discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite.

13. Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes.

Synonyms

• (easily damaged): fragile

Related terms

• delicacy
• delicately
• delicatessen
• delicious
• delight

Translations

Noun

delicate (plural delicates)

1. A delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie.

2. (obsolete) A choice dainty; a delicacy.
3. (obsolete) A delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person.

Further reading

• delicate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• delicate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.li?ka.te/

Adjective

delicate

1. feminine plural of delicato

Anagrams

• dateceli

Latin

Adjective

d?lic?te

1. vocative masculine singular of d?lic?tus

References

• delicate in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• delicate in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• delicate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deli?kate/

Adjective

delicate

1. feminine plural nominative of delicat
2. feminine plural accusative of delicat
3. neuter plural nominative of delicat
4. neuter plural accusative of delicat

English

Alternative forms

• pooty, purdy (nonstandard)
• pratty (dialectal)
• prettie, pretie (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English prety, preti, praty, prati, from Old English prætti? (“tricky, crafty, sly, cunning, wily, astute”), from Proto-Germanic *prattugaz (“boastful, sly, slick, deceitful, tricky, cunning”), corresponding to prat (“trick”) +? -y. Cognate with Dutch prettig (“nice, pleasant”), Low German prettig (“funny”), Icelandic prettugur (“deceitful, tricky”). For the sense-development, compare canny, clever, cute.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?p??ti/
• (US, dialectal) IPA^(key): /?p?ti/
• (US, rare) IPA^(key): /?p??ti/
• Rhymes: -?ti

Adjective

pretty (comparative prettier, superlative prettiest)

1. Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children, but less strikingly than something beautiful. [from 15th c.]
   • 2010, Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 4 Feb 2010:

     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.

2. Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing. [from 15th c.]
   • 2010, Lia Leendertz, The Guardian, 13 Feb 2010:

     'Petit Posy' brassicas […] are a cross between kale and brussels sprouts, and are really very pretty with a mild, sweet taste.

3. (often derogatory) Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty. [from 15th c.]
   • 1962, "New Life for the Liberals", Time, 28 Sep 1962:

     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."

4. Cunning; clever, skilful. [from 9th c.]
5. (dated) Moderately large; considerable. [from 15th c.]
   • 2004, "Because They're Worth it", Time, 26 Jan 04:

     "What did you do to your hair?" The answer could be worth a pretty penny for L'Oreal.

6. (dated) Excellent, commendable, pleasing; fitting or proper (of actions, thoughts etc.). [from 16th c.]
   • 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, Boston 1867, page 75:

     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.

   • 1919, Saki, ‘The Oversight’, The Toys of Peace:

     ‘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.’

   • 1926, Ernest Hemingway, The sun also rises, page 251:

     "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?"

7. (ironic) Awkward, unpleasant. [from 16th c.]
   • 1931, "Done to a Turn", Time, 26 Jan 1931:

     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.

   • 1877 "Black Beauty", Anna Sewell

     A pretty thing it would be if a man of business had to examine every cab-horse before he hired it

Antonyms

• ugly

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• Pretty in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Adverb

pretty (not comparable)

1. Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.
   • 1723, Charles Walker, Memoirs of Sally Salisbury, V:

     By the Sheets you have sent me to peruse, the Account you have given of her Birth and Parentage is pretty exact [...].

   • 1859, Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, I:

     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 [...].

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, page 539:

     The Revolutionary decade was a pretty challenging time for business.

2. (dialect) Prettily, in a pretty manner.

Usage notes

• When particularly stressed, the adverb pretty 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 well

Translations

Noun

pretty (plural pretties)

1. A pretty person; a term of address to a pretty person.
   • 1939, Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf, The Wizard of Oz

     I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!

2. Something that is pretty.

   We'll stop at the knife store and look at the sharp pretties.

Verb

pretty (third-person singular simple present pretties, present participle prettying, simple past and past participle prettied)

1. To make pretty; to beautify

Derived terms

• pretty up

Anagrams

• Pettry