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.
He walked seven batters every nine innings, which is hideous.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026
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
The author tells us about these hideous people.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026
Overnight my finger had become more hideous than Antony Ralston's backpass against Switzerland at last year's Euros.
From BBC • Dec. 2, 2025
Despite their father’s hideous accident, my father’s two brothers were also miners; Clarence worked in the Caretta mine across the mountain from Coalwood, and Emmett in mines around the county.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
