Is it normal that i see 'pretty' as more of a compliment than 'hot' or 'sexy'?

Maybe. Are you fairly modest?

Pretty only sounds nice as a compliment in reference to physical characteristics. Although, telling someone that they have a pretty personality, sounds slightly offensive in a condescending way. Or if someone told you that something you said is pretty; definitely an insult.

Whereas, sexy could be applied to both physical looks and attitude. You don't have to be good-looking to be sexy, you just have to know how to rock what you've got.

Hot is a temperature and a lazy way of implying an object has sex-appeal. "She's smokin' hawt." <--Sounds sleazy, cheesy and cheap.

I'm a girl and id MUCH RATHER be called pretty than sexy.

Personally, unless I have actually dated a woman, I am never going to refer to her physical looks in a complimentary way.

It always backfires unless she was already into you more than you were into her.

The words all have different meanings. I would always use the most appropriate one:

cute, pretty, beautiful, hot, sexy, sweet, smart

They are all totally different.

Physically I would much rather date a "cute" girl than a "beautiful" one.

I can easily get bored of beauty, but never of cuteness.

To ME, beautiful features are genetic... but cute is personality shining through...

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| mightymouse |
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Beautiful is better than pretty, pretty is better than sexy, sexy is better than hot.

that's pretty good

I'd agree. Pretty is a very strong compliment coming from me. People can become hot/sexy by what they wear/do, but they can never become pretty if they aren't.

As it works in a language someone once used to tell me about, sexy is temporary, pretty is always. We don't have ways of conveying that in English, though; other languages are better at it.

Pretty is a bit neutral, like "nice", its overuse has muted its meaning I find...