plug-ugly

British  

adjective

1. informal extremely ugly

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noun

1. slang a city tough; ruffian

Etymology

Origin of plug-ugly

C19: origin obscure; originally applied to ruffians in New York who attempted to exert political pressure

Example Sentences

But perhaps more than any American dramatist working today, Mr. Bradshaw walks — no, make that tramples — the lines that divide the good, the bad and the plug-ugly, both in art and in life.

From New York Times • Nov. 15, 2011

In The Champ, Beery was a broken-down plug-ugly who achieved moral and physical regeneration through his desire to justify the adoration of little Jackie Cooper.

From Time Magazine Archive

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the flashy plug-ugly who became one of the war's great soldiers, is Inspector General of Western Defenses.

From Time Magazine Archive

Oldenburg did a series of 48 indefinably nasty plaster versions of Chicago's distinctive red fireplugs, which for diverse reasons remind him of the plug-ugly Chicago cops.

From Time Magazine Archive

There is a hurrying and a scurrying among the females, and there are a precious lot of young fellows, with low brows and plug-ugly looks gathering on the floor.

From Danger! A True History of a Great City's Wiles and Temptations The Veil Lifted, and Light Thrown on Crime and its Causes, and Criminals and their Haunts. Facts and Disclosures. by Howe, William F.