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’d be an ugly customer if he turned on us.

From With Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga by Foster, W. Bertram

The blacksnake, though he looks an ugly customer and, when cornered, will sometimes show fight, is not venomous and his bite is not deep.

From On the Trail An Outdoor Book for Girls by Beard, Lina

With his friends, they say Dick Turpin can be as gentle as a lamb; with his foes, especially with a limb of the law like yourself, he's been found but an ugly customer.

From Rookwood by Ainsworth, William Harrison

Chamberlain an ugly customer to tackle when at bay.

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

This done, we again sprang at our ugly customer, he at the bow, and I about midships.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine Vol. IV, No. 19, Dec 1851 by Various