a pretty penny
Preserved but no longer current.
A considerable sum of money, an unpleasantly large sum. A penny for your thoughts! Tell me what you are thinking about. Addressed humorously to one in a "brown study." The phrase occurs in Heywood's Proverbs (1546).
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “a pretty penny” mean?
A considerable sum of money, an unpleasantly large sum. A penny for your thoughts! Tell me what you are thinking about. Addressed humorously to one in a "brown study." The phrase occurs in Heywood's Proverbs (1546).
Is “a pretty penny” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.