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

Chamberlain an ugly customer to tackle when at bay.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 93, July 23, 1887. by Various

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

He was very roughly dressed on the day of the raid, and in every sense of the word he looked like an "ugly customer."

From The Strange Story of Harper's Ferry With Legends of the Surrounding Country by Joseph Barry

His colour is of a dirty blue-black, and altogether he is a very ugly customer, as the unfortunate tiger usually finds.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 377, March 1847 by Various