pretty vs rather

pretty

adv
  • Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very. 

  • Prettily, in a pretty manner. 

noun
  • Something that is pretty. 

  • A pretty person; a term of address to a pretty person. 

adj
  • Cunning; clever, skilful. 

  • Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty. 

  • Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing. 

  • Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children. 

  • Awkward, unpleasant. 

verb
  • To make pretty; to beautify 

rather

adv
  • Somewhat, fairly. 

  • Used to introduce a contradiction; on the contrary. 

  • Introducing a qualification or clarification; more precisely. (Now usually preceded by or.) 

  • Used to specify a choice or preference; preferably, in preference to. (Now usually followed by than) 

verb
  • To prefer; to prefer to. 

How often have the words pretty and rather occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )