prettify
/'pritifai/
Definition
- Verb:
- To make something more beautiful or attractive, often in a superficial or decorative way: "prettify" means to improve the appearance of something, typically by adding decorative elements or making minor aesthetic changes. It often implies the changes are cosmetic rather than substantial.
Examples of Usage
- Verb:
- She decided to prettify her room with some new curtains and a coat of paint.
- The city council's plan to prettify the old square involved planting flowers and installing new benches.
- He accused the report of trying to prettify the harsh economic realities.
Advanced Usage
- "to prettify something up": an informal phrasal verb meaning to make something look nicer.
- We should prettify the patio up before the guests arrive.
- Used in a figurative or sometimes critical sense to imply making something superficially acceptable without addressing underlying problems.
- The government's new policy is just an attempt to prettify a failing system.
Variants and Related Words
- Prettification (noun): The act or process of making something pretty.
- The prettification of the neighborhood was welcomed by residents.
- Pretty (adjective): Pleasing or attractive to the eye.
Synonyms
- Beautify: To make beautiful.
- Embellish: To make more attractive by adding decorative details.
- Adorn: To add beauty or ornament to.
- Garnish: To decorate or embellish (often food).
Antonyms
- Uglify: To make ugly.
- Disfigure: To spoil the appearance of.
Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)
- Prettify up: (Informal) To make something look more attractive.
- Let's prettify up the presentation with some graphics.
Related Idioms
- To gild the lily: To try to improve something that is already beautiful or perfect, often making it worse. (This idiom shares the concept of unnecessary decoration, though "prettify" is not always negative.)
- Adding more jewels to that necklace would be gilding the lily.
Verb
-
make more beautiful
