prettify

[ prit-uh-fahy ]
See synonyms for: prettifyprettifying on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),pret·ti·fied, pret·ti·fy·ing.
  1. to make pretty, especially in a small, petty way: to prettify a natural beauty.

  2. to minimize or gloss over (something unpleasant): to prettify his rude behavior.

Origin of prettify

1
First recorded in 1840–50; prett(y) + -ify

Other words from prettify

  • pret·ti·fi·ca·tion, noun
  • pret·ti·fi·er, noun
  • un·pret·ti·fied, adjective

Words Nearby prettify

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use prettify in a sentence

  • Or it could prettify empty, big-box stores and try to make them more welcoming.

    Why Best Buy Is Tanking | Alex Klein | August 21, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • I must send him a little box at Christmas,—some little things to trim up his new house and prettify it.

    Hildegarde's Harvest | Laura E. Richards
  • There is no need to prettify the record; the record, as it stands, in all its crude natural colors, is good enough.

    Proclaim Liberty! | Gilbert Seldes
  • It is not the function of the biographer any more than it is that of a dentist to prettify his subject.

    The Art of Letters | Robert Lynd
  • "Let no one think that they can force me to prettify my types," he said.

    Jean Francois Millet | Estelle M. Hurll

British Dictionary definitions for prettify

prettify

/ (ˈprɪtɪˌfaɪ) /


verb-fies, -fying or -fied
  1. (tr) to make pretty, esp in a trivial fashion; embellish

Derived forms of prettify

  • prettification, noun
  • prettifier, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012