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
- hideosity noun
- hideously adverb
- hideousness noun
- unhideous adjective
- unhideously adverb
- unhideousness noun
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
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.
Car manufacturers that continued to churn out hideous gas guzzlers have long since vanished.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
Most of us have received at least one Christms present that missed the mark - a jumper that doesn't fit, a hideous ornament or a perfume you don't like.
From BBC • Dec. 25, 2025
They stumbled on a hideous flesh wall, and encountered fearsome government scientist Dr Kay, played by Terminator star Linda Hamilton.
From BBC • Dec. 23, 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
As May stepped away from the Mirror, a hideous shriek erupted from the broken glass.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
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.
