be at a pretty pass
1pretty pass — noun A difficult situation. When any of his descendants chose to take him to task for the crudeness of his manners he was accustomed to look them coldly over and retort that things had come to a pretty pass when comparatively new people ventured… …
2come to a pretty pass — reach a bad or regrettable state of affairs * * * come to such a ˈpass | come to a pretty ˈpass idiom (old fashioned humorous) to reach a sad or difficult state • I never thought things would come to such a pass as this …
3come to a pretty pass — If something has come to a pretty pass, then it is in a difficult, unfavourable or negative situation …
4come to a pretty pass — ► come to a pretty pass reach a regrettable state of affairs. Main Entry: ↑pass …
5things have come to a pretty pass — things have come to/reached a pretty pass something that you say which means a situation is very bad. Things have come to a pretty pass when old people are dying of hypothermia because they can t afford to heat their homes. (often + when) …
6things have come reached a pretty pass — things have come to/reached a pretty pass something that you say which means a situation is very bad. Things have come to a pretty pass when old people are dying of hypothermia because they can t afford to heat their homes. (often + when) …
7things have come to a pretty pass — old fashioned phrase used for saying that a situation has become very unpleasant, difficult, or unacceptable Thesaurus: words used to describe difficult situationssynonym Main entry: pass …
8a pretty pass — {n. phr.} An unfortunate condition; a critical state. * /While the boss was away, things at the company had come to a pretty pass./ …
9a pretty pass — {n. phr.} An unfortunate condition; a critical state. * /While the boss was away, things at the company had come to a pretty pass./ …
10a\ pretty\ pass — n. phr. An unfortunate condition; a critical state. While the boss was away, things at the company had come to a pretty pass …
