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

He turned about, muttering, and Raven, looking after him, thought he was an ugly customer.

From Old Crow by Brown, Alice

Well, Bristles, I don't blame you much, because he was an ugly customer.

From Fred Fenton Marathon Runner The Great Race at Riverport School by Chapman, Allen

Mr. Shark, who is an ugly customer, had been cruising in the neighbourhood, and had taken a morsel out of an American swimmer a little time before.

From Romantic Spain A Record of Personal Experiences (Vol. II) by O'Shea, John Augustus

He was not long in finding the vine in question an ugly customer.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 109, November, 1866 by Various

But the steward was obliged to attend to the ugly customer opposite him at the table, and he made no reply—a piece of rudeness, however, which he regretted as an absolute necessity.

From Freaks of Fortune or, Half Round the World by Optic, Oliver