hideous

[hid-ee-uhs]

adjective

1. horrible or frightful to the senses; repulsive; very ugly.

   a hideous monster.

   Synonyms: ghastly, appalling, dreadful, monstrous, odious, detestable, repellent, grim, grisly
   Antonyms: attractive, pleasing

2. shocking or revolting to the moral sense.

   a hideous crime.

   Synonyms: ghastly, appalling, dreadful, monstrous, odious, detestable, repellent, grim, grisly

3. distressing; appalling.

   the hideous expense of moving one's home to another city.

hideous

/ ˌhɪdɪˈɒsɪtɪ, ˈhɪdɪəs /

adjective

1. extremely ugly; repulsive

   a hideous person

2. terrifying and horrific

Other Word Forms

• hideously adverb
• hideousness noun
• hideosity noun
• unhideous adjective
• unhideously adverb
• unhideousness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hideous¹

1275–1325; Middle English hidous < Old French hisdos, equivalent to hisde horror, fright (perhaps < Old High German *egisida, akin to egisôn, agison to frighten) + -os -ous; suffix later assimilated to -eous

Word History and Origins

Origin of hideous¹

C13: from Old French hisdos, from hisde fear; of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

That was certainly the case when Roberts stamped on Wolves' Kevin Muscat after the Australian had injured Bellamy with a hideous tackle - and it wasn't just opponents who sought out the teenager for punishment.

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When culture stagnates, and the degradation of political life feeds back into that culture, it doesn’t merely stay the same; it degenerates into a hideous pastiche of itself.

Read more on Salon

Also, I think the villa is hideous and the most fake moments are when everyone has to pretend it’s not.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Nations reel and stagger on their way; they make hideous mistakes; they commit frightful wrongs; they do great and beautiful things.

Read more on Salon

"Who the hell in the world can cope with those interest rates? Nobody. No business anywhere can cope with that. It's hideous," he said.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• abominable 
• appalling 
• awful 
• disgusting 
• dreadful 
• frightful 
• ghastly 
• grim 
• grisly 
• gruesome 
• hateful 
• horrendous 
• horrid 
• macabre 
• monstrous 
• nasty 
• odious 
• repulsive 
• revolting 
• shocking