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.
But sometimes it’s easier to believe a pretty lie over a hideous truth.
From Literature
“They still have to get through the first half of this year, which is going to be hideous,” Vernon said.
“It really is a gargantuanly hideous picture. I chose it to hide the safe on the reckoning that nobody could possibly want to steal it.”
From Literature
“No, I’m picturing hundreds of your hideous mug menacing the entire world,” Door said.
From Literature
Car manufacturers that continued to churn out hideous gas guzzlers have long since vanished.
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.
