pretty accurately

USAGE SUMMARY

"pretty accurately" is correct and usable in written English.
It is an adverb phrase that means "fairly or quite accurately." Example: "The weather forecast predicted rain for tomorrow, and it was pretty accurately predicted. It did end up raining all day."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

60 human-written examples

Swiftkey was the world's first keyboard to introduce a three-word suggestion bar above the keys that could pretty accurately predict your next word, powered by its 'n-gram' technology which provides accurate predictions for common phrases.

TechCrunch

That describes the current situation pretty accurately.

The New Yorker

That describes to me pretty accurately what this version of Windows is.

The Guardian - Tech

I think time has proved that the producers of the show caught the climate pretty accurately.

The Guardian

I think that pretty accurately sums up the experience of living.

The New York Times

Most of the doctors were able to assess the quality of the research pretty accurately.

The New York Times

Re-reading the document, as I did last night, I think it pretty accurately reflects what people thought the position was at the time.

The Guardian - Opinion

No great shocks in the list of this year's Olivier award nominees: it reflects, pretty accurately, the popular and critical consensus about what constitutes the year's major events.

The Guardian

If you discount a degree of inevitable dramatic license, Mr. Pistone said, the show reflects his days with the mob pretty accurately.

The New York Times

The best pancetta can cost up to £4 per 100g, but, in the vast majority of recipes, you can mimic its concentrated flavour pretty accurately with decent streaky.

The Guardian - Lifestyle

For though as everyone is aware the league tables each year can be pretty accurately plotted in advance by revenue and spend, miracles are universally expected.

The Guardian - Sport

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use "pretty accurately" to convey a sense of near correctness or close approximation, especially when complete accuracy isn't crucial or measurable. For instance, "The model predicted the outcome pretty accurately."

Common error

Avoid using "pretty accurately" when describing situations that demand absolute precision. For example, it would be inappropriate to say "The medicine dosage was prescribed pretty accurately" when lives are at stake. In such cases, strive for and indicate absolute accuracy.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "pretty accurately" functions as an adverbial modifier, specifying the degree to which something is accurate. It modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs to indicate that something is fairly close to being completely accurate, according to Ludwig.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

News & Media

69%

Science

15%

Formal & Business

6%

Less common in

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "pretty accurately" is a common adverbial phrase used to indicate a reasonable degree of accuracy or correctness. Ludwig AI confirms its grammatical correctness and wide usability across various contexts, particularly in news and media. While the phrase is useful for expressing approximations, it should be used judiciously in formal or scientific writing, where precise language is crucial. Consider alternatives like "quite accurately" or "relatively accurately" for more formal settings.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

fairly precisely

Emphasizes the precision aspect of the accuracy.

quite correctly

Highlights the correctness of a statement or assessment.

reasonably close

Suggests an approximation that is within an acceptable range.

largely accurately

Implies that the majority of details are accurate, with minor exceptions.

generally correct

Indicates a broad agreement with the facts or truth.

more or less exact

Expresses an accuracy that may not be completely perfect, but very close.

somewhat precisely

Similar to fairly precisely but with less emphasis.

approximating closely

Highlights the approximation aspect, suggesting a high level of similarity.

close to the truth

Indicates proximity to the actual truth without necessarily being entirely exact.

in the right ballpark

An informal way to say that something is generally accurate or correct.

FAQs

How can I use "pretty accurately" in a sentence?

You can use "pretty accurately" to describe something that is almost, but not entirely, accurate. For example, "The weather forecast predicted the storm's path "pretty accurately"."

What's a formal alternative to "pretty accurately"?

In more formal contexts, consider using phrases like "quite accurately" or "relatively accurately" to maintain a higher degree of formality.

Is it better to say "pretty accurately" or "very accurately"?

"Pretty accurately" suggests a slightly lower degree of accuracy than "very accurately". Choose the phrase that best reflects the actual level of accuracy you want to convey.

Can "pretty accurately" be used in scientific writing?

While "pretty accurately" is understandable, scientific writing often requires more precise language. Opt for terms like "quantitatively accurate" or specify the margin of error for greater clarity.