- things have come to a pretty pass
- old-fashioned
used for saying that a situation has become very unpleasant, difficult, or unacceptable
English dictionary. 2014.
things have come to a pretty pass
Look at other dictionaries:
things have come to a pretty pass — things have come to/reached a pretty pass something that you say which means a situation is very bad. Things have come to a pretty pass when old people are dying of hypothermia because they can t afford to heat their homes. (often + when) … New idioms dictionary
things have come reached a pretty pass — things have come to/reached a pretty pass something that you say which means a situation is very bad. Things have come to a pretty pass when old people are dying of hypothermia because they can t afford to heat their homes. (often + when) … New idioms dictionary
things have come to a pretty pass — old fashioned phrase used for saying that a situation has become very unpleasant, difficult, or unacceptable Thesaurus: words used to describe difficult situationssynonym Main entry: pass … Useful english dictionary
come to a pretty pass — reach a bad or regrettable state of affairs * * * come to such a ˈpass | come to a pretty ˈpass idiom (old fashioned humorous) to reach a sad or difficult state • I never thought things would come to such a pass as this … Useful english dictionary
come to such a pass — come to such a ˈpass | come to a pretty ˈpass idiom (old fashioned humorous) to reach a sad or difficult state • I never thought things would come to such a pass as this. • … Useful english dictionary
pretty — 1. Pretty is used as an adverb with the meaning ‘fairly, moderately’, as in The performance was pretty good / He did pretty much as he liked. The adverb corresponding to the usual meaning of pretty is prettily: She always dresses so prettily. 2.… … Modern English usage
pass — 1 verb 1 GO PAST (I, T) to come up to a particular point or object and go past it: The crowd parted to let the truck pass. | They kept quiet until the soldiers had passed. | pass sb/sth: We passed each other on the staircase. | I pass the sports… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
pass — pass1 [ pæs ] verb *** ▸ 1 go past something ▸ 2 move somewhere ▸ 3 be successful on test ▸ 4 give/let someone have something ▸ 5 spend time or be spent ▸ 6 kick/hit/throw ball to someone ▸ 7 make law, etc. official ▸ 8 be unable to answer ▸ 9… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
pretty — 1 / prIti/ adverb (+ adj/adv) spoken 1 fairly, though not completely: I m pretty sure he ll say yes. | Life on the farm was pretty tough. see rather 2 very: It s pretty hard to see how we ll manage. 3 pretty well also pretty much very nearly;… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
pretty — pret|ty1 W3S2 [ˈprıti] adv [+ adjective/adverb] spoken 1.) fairly or more than a little ▪ I m pretty sure he ll say yes. ▪ She still looks pretty miserable. see usage note ↑rather 2.) very ▪ Dinner at Luigi s sounds pretty good to me … Dictionary of contemporary English
