pretty

Compared meaning: attractive or pleasant to look at (adjective).

比较义项：外表好看、令人愉悦（形容词）。

• pretty 本词

  Used mainly for girls, women, or small charming things; a mild, everyday word for attractive looks, weaker than beautiful and rarely applied to men.

  主要用于形容女孩、女性或小巧可爱的事物；是形容外貌好看的普通、语气较轻的词，比beautiful弱，且很少用来形容男性。

  The little girl wore a pretty pink ribbon in her hair.

  小女孩头发上戴着一个漂亮的粉色蝴蝶结。

• beautiful

  A stronger, more formal word for looks that can also describe scenery, art, or sounds; suits anyone or anything, not tied to a particular gender.

  语气更强、更正式，除了形容外貌，也可以形容风景、艺术或声音；适用于任何人或事物，不局限于特定性别。

  The sunset over the ocean was breathtakingly beautiful.

  海面上的日落美得令人屏息。

• handsome

  Traditionally describes a man's attractive appearance (or a strong-featured, boyish woman); rarely used for objects, food, or scenery.

  传统上用来形容男性英俊的外貌（也可形容五官分明、带有几分英气的女性）；很少用来形容物品、食物或风景。

  Everyone agreed the young groom looked extremely handsome in his suit.

  大家都认为那位年轻的新郎穿西装的样子非常英俊。

• lovely

  A softer, more casual word that can describe a whole pleasant experience or atmosphere, not just visual appearance; very common in British English.

  语气更柔和、更口语化，除了外貌，也可以形容整体令人愉快的经历或氛围；在英式英语中非常常用。

  We had a lovely evening chatting by the fireplace.

  我们在壁炉边聊天，度过了一个愉快的夜晚。

Pretty, beautiful, handsome, and lovely all describe someone attractive. Pretty is mild, mainly for women, girls, or small things. Beautiful is stronger and more formal, used for people, scenery, or sounds. Handsome traditionally describes a man's good looks. Lovely is softer and more casual.

这几个词都表示“好看、令人愉悦”，但语气强弱、适用对象和搭配不同：pretty多形容女性、女孩或小巧精致的事物，语气较轻；beautiful语气更强、更正式，适用范围也更广，可形容人、风景、声音等；handsome传统上多形容男性的英俊外貌；lovely语气柔和、口语化，除了外貌还可以形容整体令人愉快的经历或氛围。这里不比较handsome的“慷慨的”“可观的”等义项。

Compared meaning: to a moderate degree, quite (adverb).

比较义项：表示程度的“相当／有点”（副词）。

• pretty 本词

  Informal and mainly spoken; feels stronger and more casual than fairly or somewhat, and sounds out of place in formal writing.

  非正式，多用于口语；比 fairly 和 somewhat 语气更强、更随意，用在正式书面语中会显得不合适。

  It's pretty late already, so we should probably head home now.

  现在已经相当晚了，我们大概应该回家了。

• somewhat

  More formal and often written; commonly precedes comparative forms or verbs of change, which pretty and fairly cannot naturally do.

  更正式，多用于书面语；常放在比较级或表示变化的动词前，而 pretty 和 fairly 通常不能这样用。

  The test results were somewhat better than we had expected.

  考试成绩比我们预期的稍好一些。

• fairly

  Neutral in register, common in both speech and writing; weaker than pretty and used before plain adjectives rather than comparatives.

  语域中性，口语和书面语都常用；程度比 pretty 弱，通常放在普通形容词前，而不是比较级前。

  The hotel room was fairly small, but it was clean and quiet.

  这间酒店房间相当小，但是干净又安静。

Pretty, somewhat, and fairly all show a moderate degree. Pretty is informal and spoken, too casual for formal writing. Somewhat is more formal and written, often before comparatives like 'somewhat better'. Fairly is neutral, common in speech and writing, used before plain adjectives.

这三个词都用来表示程度，比“很”弱，但语域和搭配不同：pretty 偏口语、语气较强，fairly 语域中性、强度居中，somewhat 偏书面、常与比较级连用。这里不比较 pretty 作形容词“漂亮的”的用法。