pretty face
33
4.2
- noun
- Offensive
:
solo una cara bonita
- Many people only see her as a pretty face, not recognizing her intelligence and skills.
Any more than desire more than just a pretty face.
- Any more than desire more than just a pretty face.
- No, like if you ain't got a pretty face like me, you're going to have to work real hard.
- He's he's in the he's he knows that you know, you're not just a pretty face.
- And the reason was because you had actual genuine content, not just a pretty face.
- Man, this thing is gorgeous and it's more than just a pretty face.
Examples
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'Cause you got a pretty face.
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Oh, baby, with your pretty face.
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I got to know your pretty face and electric soul.
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Let me kiss that pretty face.
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Not just a pretty face after all.
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Not just a pretty face.
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And when I come out, you better have a smile on that pretty face of yours.
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I sat down on the edge of her bed and looked at her pretty face.
Fiction book (1993) -
To you, I'm just another pretty face.
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However, the actress, simply named Zhu Zhu, is not just another pretty face.
Blog text (14)
Synonyms
198
3.0
A very attractive woman that many people find pleasing to look at
34
5.5
A young man who has a delicate, attractive face
22
4.8
A very attractive person, often a woman who gets attention
17
6.5
A good-looking person, often a woman, who many people notice
4
8.2
A friendly name for a woman with a pretty, young face to show affection
1
7.6
A person who is attractive but thought to have little intelligence or real skill
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'pretty' + 'face' in a directly compositional way so a B1 learner would understand it denotes an attractive face and, by extension, an attractive person. However, the dismissive nuance ('little else to offer beyond looks') and the metonymic use of 'face' for a whole person are pragmatic extensions that are not fully predictable from the parts, making it partially but not wholly transparent.
Etymology
Pretty face comes from the simple image of someone whose pretty looks and face are what you notice first. So it came to mean 'an attractive person' who is often thought to have little else beyond their looks.