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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ugly customer

"That 'u'd be a ugly customer to meet on a dark road," he said, holding it up for the others to see.

From Westerfelt by Will N. (William Nathaniel) Harben

“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

I do not know what he thought of me: I do know that I thought him a very ugly customer.

From Dick Onslow Among the Redskins by George Soper

Cucullin was an ugly customer, no doubt, to meet with; and, moreover, the idea of the confounded "cake" aforesaid flattened the very heart within him.

From Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats

“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

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