ugly
adjective, ug·li·er, ug·li·est.
Nearby words
Origin of ugly
Examples from the Web for ugly
British Dictionary definitions for ugly
ugly
adjective -lier or -liest
Word Origin for ugly
Word Origin and History for ugly
ugly
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.
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