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

“I am thinking,” said Trevor, in a quiet, slow way—“thinking that he’s an ugly customer, and that his head looks precious hard.”

From Thereby Hangs a Tale Volume One by George Manville Fenn

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

Most men are afraid of him, for he can be an ugly customer in a scrap, and under that jolly laugh he has the temper of a devil.

From Canoe Mates in Canada Three Boys Afloat on the Saskatchewan by St. George Rathborne

For Pete was big-boned and strong, and promised to be an ugly customer in a battle.

From The Vast Abyss The Story of Tom Blount, his Uncles and his Cousin Sam by George Manville Fenn

It's an ugly customer the fever, though, Mr Whyte," observed Mr Trace; "and I calculate we ought to do him that pleasure.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 54, No. 338, December 1843 by Various