hideous
Americanadjective
-
horrible or frightful to the senses; repulsive; very ugly.
a hideous monster.
- Antonyms:
- attractive, pleasing
-
shocking or revolting to the moral sense.
a hideous crime.
-
distressing; appalling.
the hideous expense of moving one's home to another city.
adjective
-
extremely ugly; repulsive
a hideous person
-
terrifying and horrific
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hideous
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
Explanation
Hideous is a word that means extremely ugly. Anything or anybody that is painful — and a little scary — to look at is hideous. This is a strong word. If you have a zit on your nose, you might feel hideous, but you're probably not. Only terrifyingly ugly people and things are truly hideous. In horror movies, the special effects team tries to make the monsters hideous, so moviegoers will be scared. This word can also be a more general term for awful things. For example, you could say the effects of a concussion are so severe that they're hideous.
Vocabulary lists containing hideous
"The Tell-Tale Heart," Vocabulary from the short story
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"Harrison Bergeron"
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
With such a hideous start to the campaign, getting back in the hunt must feel like the second chance they thought they'd never have.
From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026
She imagined herself forced to wrestle a huge and hideous Egyptian in the arena.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
When we meet Yee’s shifting character, he first resembles a hideous beast reminiscent of F.W.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2025
Overnight my finger had become more hideous than Antony Ralston's backpass against Switzerland at last year's Euros.
From BBC • Dec. 2, 2025
Their clothes were ragged and covered in filth, their bodies had warped into hideous designs.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
