CHANGE/MAKE something DIFFERENTto change something with the intention of making it more attractive, but often with the effect of spoiling it 粉饰,美化〔常弄巧成拙〕
attempts to prettify the harbour
美化港口的努力
Examples from the Corpus
prettify• If I were a liar, I should prettify the past of your wife, but I am not.• Instead, the effect is to prettify the whole thing, something for which designer William Dudley needs no second invitation.• Her ballgown was an old greydress which she had prettified with some lengths of Brussels lace.