English → Latin
“pretty” in Latin
bellusbeautiful, pretty, handsome; pleasant, agreeable, charmingpulcherbeautiful, fair, pretty; noble, honorable, excellentfōrmōsusbeautiful, handsome; aesthetic, well-formedlepiduspleasant, charming; witty; effeminatevenustuscharming, friendly, lovely, pleasing, comely, beautiful, elegant; artistic, elegant; affable, elegant, charmingfēstīvuslively, festive, joyous, gay, merry; agreeable, pleasing; handsome, pretty; jovial, agreeablebonusgood, honest, brave, noble, kind, pleasant; right; useful
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
pretty
bellus (the proper word): pulchellus (tolerably pretty; of persons and things): formosus (well-shaped; of persons): lepidus (neat, elegant; of persons and things): venustus (agreeable, charming; of persons and things): festivus (elegant, especially in behavior; of persons; then, like our “pretty;” also = not inconsiderable, of a number, multitude, etc.): bonus (not inconsiderable, good, tolerable; of a number). ☞ Honestus, of shape, etc., expresses more than “pretty;” it is “stately,” “imposing,” etc. To possess a pretty considerable number of books, habere festivam librorum copiam: a pretty share, bona pars: it is pretty, bellum est.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for pretty?
- The usual Latin words for “pretty” are bellus, pulcher, fōrmōsus; also lepidus, venustus, fēstīvus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.