ugly customer

American  

noun

1. a hostile or dangerous person.

---

ugly customer Idioms  

1. An ill-natured or vicious individual, as in Watch out for Charlie when he's drinking; he can be an ugly customer. This phrase uses ugly in the sense of “mean” or “dangerous.” [c. 1800]

---

Etymology

Origin of ugly customer

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ugly customer

"Brevald's a pretty ugly customer," said one of the men.

From The Trembling of a Leaf Little Stories of the South Sea Islands by Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset)

Well, Bristles, I don't blame you much, because he was an ugly customer.

From Fred Fenton Marathon Runner The Great Race at Riverport School by Chapman, Allen

“That Tom Dinass is an ugly customer if he’s put out.”

From Sappers and Miners The Flood beneath the Sea by Hurst, Hal

But the steward was obliged to attend to the ugly customer opposite him at the table, and he made no reply—a piece of rudeness, however, which he regretted as an absolute necessity.

From Freaks of Fortune or, Half Round the World by Optic, Oliver

It is a fine specimen of the New England variety of the Felis concolor and would no doubt have proved an ugly customer to meet on a dark night.

From A Busy Year at the Old Squire's by Stephens, C. A. (Charles Asbury)