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Synonyms

ill-favored

American  
[il-fey-verd] / ˈɪlˈfeɪ vərd /
especially British, ill-favoured

adjective

  1. unpleasant in appearance; homely or ugly.

  2. offensive; unpleasant; objectionable.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of ill-favored

First recorded in 1520–30

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.

See Examples For:

The story tells of an ill-favored child, Marie Grosholtz, who’s born in an Alsatian village in 1761 and orphaned a few years later.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 12, 2026

The primary character is Marek, a uniquely homely and ill-favored young man.

From New York Times Jun. 13, 2022

Nd8!, cheekily squatting on the Black queen’s home square and winning the ill-favored Black c-pawn after all.

From Washington Times Nov. 23, 2021

And there came out against me a certain ill-favored Egyptian with his helpers, to fight with me.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2019

“Someone half clever might dub you Pitch or Scuttle, ill-favored names. Or Slate, a sedentary name. Heaven forbid you end up Blackie, that’s an ill-fitting name for a prince like you.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

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