# Pretty, Cute, Beautiful, Sexy **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 17, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217 "2015-05-17T04:09:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/21 "2015-05-17T16:47:30Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I dunno–to be funny, there should be a grain of truth to it. I’ve heard “exotic” used as “pretty and not white,” but never as “ugly.” Saying it means “ugly” is like saying it means “microwaved”: it comes across as a non sequitur. It’s SUPPOSED to be a non sequitur. For the rest of the bit, Beth has been defining words in terms of pretty, but then abruptly changes premise, cadence, and tone. It’s the sudden swerve that makes it amusing. The purpose of the bit isn’t to be " honest " about lookism or the Eurocentrism of beauty standards; it’s to make the viewers laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/22 "2015-05-17T16:49:33Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Comedy only works when it’s truth… THAT isn’t true. There’s tons to d jokes that work only because they’re absurd, because they’re so obviously and nakedly UNTRUE. Take any episode of FAMILY GJY. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/23 "2015-05-17T16:49:36Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > No, the ugly line is much funnier. NEWS RADIO was a comedy, not social commentary. Really? It seems to me “Pretty and not white” leads to a bigger laugh, because it’s the better answer when Alexander’s character asks “then what am I?” and walks away pleased. Then again, I’d change “Sexy” to “pretty with a nice rack” to cover cute and sexy folks like Melissa Rauch. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/24 "2015-05-17T16:57:21Z")
I never watched\* News Radio\* so I don’t know who they were, but even though I like and agree with the red-haired chicks terminology, I think she’s totally wrong in regards to themselves…The dark-haired girl sitting at the desk is the definition of cute! She has a baby face and short, dark hair. The red-haired girl is most definitely \*\*\*not \*\*\*cute, she’s pretty. Mature, plain/sophisticated face, and long, flowing red hair. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/25 "2015-05-17T16:58:29Z")
‘Beauty’ means aesthetic attractiveness. You can pontificate on this for hours, but it basically just means that someone or something is pleasing to look at. ‘Pretty’ is a lesser form of aesthetic attractiveness with the same meaning. ‘Sexy’ implies, as would be expected, that the speaker wants to have sex with the person in question. It doesn’t necessarily have refer to a beautiful, cute, or pretty person, but it usually does. ‘Cute’ is a related term that focuses on the youth of the person the label is applied to. Although calling someone cute doesn’t necessarily imply a desire for sex, it’s related in that both are subjective judgments made in the eye of the beholder. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/26 "2015-05-17T17:28:30Z")
Sunsets are beautiful, flowers are pretty, ducklings are cute. You can take what makes them so and apply it to people to see the differences. Beautiful people are breathtaking or have a degree of splendor about them, pretty people are unaggressively pleasing to look at, cute people have youthful features like small upturned noses, large eyes, etc. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/27 "2015-05-17T17:37:48Z")
Seems to me that “beauty” speaks to a more classical, time-less look, whereas “pretty” is more conventional, youthful, and thus fleeting. Prettiness wanes with age, but a person matures into beauty. A beautiful face in the 1930s is the same in the 2030s. But pretty, maybe not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/28 "2015-05-17T17:41:17Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > It’s SUPPOSED to be a non sequitur. For the rest of the bit, Beth has been defining words in terms of pretty, but then abruptly changes premise, cadence, and tone. It’s the sudden swerve that makes it amusing. The purpose of the bit isn’t to be " honest " about lookism or the Eurocentrism of beauty standards; it’s to make the viewers laugh. Huh. It doesn’t play that way at all to me. I’m a big fan of non sequitur humor, despite today’s weather, but I didn’t hear it like that. Maybe if I were more familiar with the show, which I’ve not watched in more than a decade, I’d hear it as a non sequitur. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/29 "2015-05-17T17:46:21Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > It’s SUPPOSED to be a non sequitur. For the rest of the bit, Beth has been defining words in terms of pretty, but then abruptly changes premise, cadence, and tone. It’s the sudden swerve that makes it amusing. The purpose of the bit isn’t to be " honest " about lookism or the Eurocentrism of beauty standards; it’s to make the viewers laugh. If it’s supposed to non sequitur then it’s really poor non sequitur humor. All it comes off as is a failed joke. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/30 "2015-05-17T18:11:58Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The definitive [treatise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJRzG0ehg6Y) on the subject. I’m glad to see that this is still remembered whenever this question arises… ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/31 "2015-05-17T18:25:11Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > If it’s supposed to non sequitur then it’s really poor non sequitur humor. All it comes off as is a failed joke. Like **Left Hand OD** said below, there should be a “grain of truth.” It’s possible to have a non-tall beautiful woman, or a gorgeous woman without great hair – but there is a grain (or more) of truth in those definitions. For me the swerve to “ugly” worked well. It’s not that the all “exotic” women are ugly, it’s just that it can be a used to describe a woman with unusual features – whether or not the woman is beautiful/cute/pretty in any culture anywhere on earth. So, it could apply to a non-attractive woman. That gives it the “grain of truth” and because the definition is spoken by a “quirky” character it doesn’t need more than that grain to work. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/32 "2015-05-17T18:29:56Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > The stereotypically “pretty for a Jewish girl” face is outright gorgeous. Huh? I’m definitely not gorgeous, and I never have been. I always thought “Pretty for a Jewish girl” meant “the best Jews can do,” in other words, the best of us will never be as pretty as pretty gentile girls. Not that I agree with the idea, but I’ve heard it expressed often enough to be fairly sure some people think that way. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/33 "2015-05-17T18:32:36Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > If it’s supposed to non sequitur then it’s really poor non sequitur humor. All it comes off as is a failed joke. I agree. It doesn’t come across as a non sequitur to me, but rather as “We don’t know how to end the joke without actually _going there_.” With _going there_ being racial. But I can see two white women coming up with a throwaway comment for “exotic” since white women aren’t likely to be described that in the first place. So in that way, I guess it is a non sequitur. Doesn’t take away the cringe, though. Personally, “interesting” is how I might describe someone who has a ugly face. ---
**Author:** ![mrclose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@mrclose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrclose)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/34 "2015-05-17T20:43:38Z")
Marlo Thomas= cute Ann Margret= Sexy Liz Taylor= Beautiful loretta young= Pretty (All of them when they were youngin’s, of course):rolleyes: Am I giving my age away?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/35 "2015-05-18T03:57:04Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Sexy is also about presence. Homely people can be sexy. Your manner of speech, and the way you move are important for “sexy.” I don’t mean to say it’s about suggesting that you are slutty. Sometimes the opposite is true, as long as the “what if” seems like it would be great. Sexy people draw you toward them. You want to talk to them, sit near them-- they almost seem to be radiating something. Example: My last girlfriend. Short, fat, and not ugly, but not really pretty either. And I found out too late that that she suffered from both Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder. But when we first met, there was just something about the way she moved, and she had the most commanding presence in her eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/36 "2015-05-18T04:21:07Z")
I disagree with the notion that “exotic” means “pretty and not white.” Aisha Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Lucy Liu are all beautiful in my eyes, but I wouldn’t describe any of them as exotic. I take exotic to mean uncommon or foreign with a positive connotation. Black, Asian and Latino women are not uncommon to most Americans who live in a large city I would imagine. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/37 "2015-05-18T06:44:55Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > Great analysis **RivkahChaya**. The only part I don’t quite agree with is the point about beautiful having ‘regular features’. I think sometimes it is having atypical features that can make someone beautiful, for example Piper Perabo. Or should exotic beauty be a category of its own? OK, I had to Google Piper Perabo, but she has very regular features. Symmetrical, well-proportioned; what did you think I meant by “regular”? Now, sometimes an unusual feature can actually look good on a particular face, especially if the person carries it well, like Paget Brewster’s big nose. Her nose isn’t just not a problem, it’s actually somehow sexy. She a woman who’s pretty, beautiful, and sexy, and will probably remain beautiful even as she ages, and may even remain sexy. She’s not cute, though, and I have a feeling that she hasn’t been cute since she was really little, but she probably was sexy from a young age. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/38 "2015-05-18T07:09:53Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > OK, I had to Google Piper Perabo, but she has very regular features. Symmetrical, well-proportioned; what did you think I meant by “regular”? I think I equated ‘regular’ with ‘classical’ features. Piper’s face may be symmetrical, but I wouldn’t say well-proportioned. She has quite an unusual (read: large) mouth. That’s what I find exotic. And agreeing with some other posters, I don’t think exotic is limited to non-white, but could imagine it being interpreted to mean that. Perhaps [Rossy de Palma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossy_de_Palma) is a better example? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/39 "2015-05-18T08:39:44Z")
In my book: Pretty-Mostly applied to mildly attractive women of any age. ([http://english.chosun.com/site/data/img\_dir/2014/06/06/2014060600467\_0.jpg](http://english.chosun.com/site/data/img_dir/2014/06/06/2014060600467_0.jpg)) Cute-Applied to younger girls (or at least those with youngish features) who are mild to moderately attractive ([http://blog-imgs-38.fc2.com/l/a/u/laughlaughsmile/20100828214723bbd.jpg](http://blog-imgs-38.fc2.com/l/a/u/laughlaughsmile/20100828214723bbd.jpg)) Beautiful-Usually my strongest term, applied to very attractive women who are usually adult. ([http://www.allofan.com/img/item/gr8/imgsrc\_12409.jpg](http://www.allofan.com/img/item/gr8/imgsrc_12409.jpg)) Sexy-Usually applied to females who I find bodily attractive There is a good deal of interchange between pretty/cute/beautiful since they usually are deemed by criteria such as facial feature, hair, skin etc. while sexy is more determined by the body. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217/40 "2015-05-18T12:09:51Z")
A friend of mine was describing a woman he met who knew me. Turned out to be a neighbor who is very average; average height, average weight, average looks, etc. But his description started out, “Well, she ain’t a big fat woman.” Then he paused to see if I knew, from that description, who he was describing. (He is 70 years old and maybe 280 pounds) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-cute-beautiful-sexy/720217.md?page=3)