Ugly American

noun

1. a stereotypical representation of an American tourist as a brash and insensitive philistine

Word History and Origins

Origin of Ugly American¹

C20: from title of a novel (1958) by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick

Example Sentences

His behavior was that of the infamous Ugly American.

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But beneath those time-honored stereotypes of the “ugly American” lies another one, more dimly apprehended and shadowed by fear, next to which the loud, innocent ignorance of Kimberly and Justin — who have ventured forth from Applebee-land to Venice or Edinburgh or the castles of the Rhineland largely to say they have done so — seems positively benevolent.

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In Donald J. Trump, the various species of ugly American have reached their conjoined apotheosis.

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Those dudes are trying to play the sinister “ugly American” roles, although with a singular lack of suavity and not much success.

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Jordan is insufferable, the worst kind of self-entitled Ugly American, but also endearing, perceptive and admirable in his tenacity.

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