unlovely
Americanadjective
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not lovely; without beauty or charm.
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harsh or repellent in character; unpleasant; disagreeable; objectionable.
adjective
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unpleasant in appearance
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unpleasant in character
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unlovely
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at un- 1, lovely
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It made for an unlovely municipal symbol, soaring but hardly graceful: the 800-foot-tall Soviet-era television tower that was for decades a familiar signature in the skyline of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2024
One of the two optimistic stories goes under the unlovely name of the “nonlinear Phillips curve.”
From Seattle Times • Sep. 12, 2023
A hope emerged that building new towns might be an alternative for unlovely and unloved city neighborhoods and for soulless peripheral subdivisions.
From Salon • Oct. 16, 2021
In this unlovely flat, I found myself deliriously happy.
From New York Times • Jul. 6, 2021
Yet to no heart in all the host came any fear that the Wild Men were unfaithful, strange and unlovely though they might appear.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.