ugly customer

American  

noun

1. a hostile or dangerous person.

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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]

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Etymology

Origin of ugly customer

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ugly customer

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 Allen Chapman

He knew Bad Bill was an ugly customer when he once got started.

From Crooked Trails and Straight by D. C. Hutchison

His circle of acquaintances suffered the little ones to come unto him contrary to what you might have thought, he being but an ugly customer to look at.

From When Ghost Meets Ghost by William Frend De Morgan

“She will prove an ugly customer to deal with, depend on it.”

From Fred Markham in Russia The Boy Travellers in the Land of the Czar by R. T. Landells

With his friends, they say Dick Turpin can be as gentle as a lamb; with his foes, especially with a limb of the law like yourself, he's been found but an ugly customer.

From Rookwood by William Harrison Ainsworth