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definitions

ugly

[uhg-lee]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ugly ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, ug·li·er, ug·li·est.

very unattractive or unpleasant to look at; offensive to the sense of beauty; displeasing in appearance.
disagreeable; unpleasant; objectionable: ugly tricks; ugly discords.
morally revolting: ugly crime.
threatening trouble or danger: ugly symptoms.
mean; hostile; quarrelsome: an ugly mood; an ugly frame of mind.
(especially of natural phenomena) unpleasant or dangerous: ugly weather; an ugly sea.

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RELATED WORDS

horrid, grotesque, unseemly, unsightly, awful, grisly, hideous, distasteful, vile, disgusting, terrible, sordid, dirty, messy, nasty, shocking, sinister, vicious, evil, dark

Nearby words

  1. ugaritic,
  2. ugc,
  3. ugh,
  4. ugli,
  5. uglify,
  6. ugly american,
  7. ugly as sin,
  8. ugly customer,
  9. ugly duckling,
  10. ugrian

Origin of ugly

1200–50; Middle English ugly, uglike < Old Norse uggligr fearful, dreadful, equivalent to ugg(r) fear + -ligr -ly
ANTONYMS FOR ugly
1. beautiful.
SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR ugly ON THESAURUS.COM
Related formsug·li·ly, adverbug·li·ness, nounsu·per·ug·ly, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ugly

British Dictionary definitions for ugly

ugly

adjective -lier or -liest

of unpleasant or unsightly appearance
repulsive, objectionable, or displeasing in any waywar is ugly
ominous or menacingan ugly situation
bad-tempered, angry, or sullenan ugly mood
Derived Formsuglily, adverbugliness, noun

Word Origin for ugly

C13: from Old Norse uggligr dreadful, from ugga fear
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for ugly

ugly

adj.

mid-13c., uglike "frightful or horrible in appearance," from Old Norse uggligr "dreadful, fearful," from uggr "fear, apprehension, dread" (perhaps related to agg "strife, hate") + -ligr "-like." Meaning softened to "very unpleasant to look at" late 14c. Extended sense of "morally offensive" is attested from c.1300; that of "ill-tempered" is from 1680s.

Among words for this concept, ugly is unusual in being formed from a root for "fear, dread." More common is a compound meaning "ill-shaped" (e.g. Greek dyseides, Latin deformis, Irish dochrud, Sanskrit ku-rupa). Another Germanic group has a root sense of "hate, sorrow" (see loath). Ugly duckling (1877) is from the story by Hans Christian Andersen, first translated from Danish to English 1846. Ugly American "U.S. citizen who behaves offensively abroad" is first recorded 1958 as a book title.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with ugly

ugly

In addition to the idioms beginning with ugly

  • ugly as sin
  • ugly customer
  • ugly duckling

also see:

  • rear its ugly head
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.