ugly Hear it!

ugly Definition

ugly (ug)

adjective -·lier, -·li·est

  1. unpleasing to look at; aesthetically offensive or unattractive; unsightly
  2. bad, vile, repulsive, offensive, objectionable, etc. an ugly lie, habit, etc.
  3. threatening; ominous ugly storm clouds
  4. Informal ill-tempered; cross an ugly mood

Etymology: ME uglike < ON uggligr, fearful, dreadful < uggr, fear, prob. < IE base *a-, sharp > Gr akē, a point

noun pl. -·lies

Informal an ugly person or thing

ugly Related Forms
ug·lily adverb ug·li·ness noun
ugly Synonyms

ugly

modif.

  1. Ill-favored

    unsightly, loathsome, hideous, homely, repulsive, unseemly, uncomely, deformed, bad-looking, plain, disfigured, monstrous, foul, horrid, frightful, revolting, repellent, unlovely, appalling, haglike, misshapen, misbegotten, hard-featured, grisly, unprepossessing, horse-faced*, having a face that would stop a clock*, looking a mess*, looking a fright*, looking like the devil or deuce*, not fit to be seen*.

    Antonyms handsome, beautiful*, graceful. *

  2. Unpleasant

    nasty, nauseous, nauseating*, noisome*, disagreeable*, disgusting*, odious*, revolting*, repellent*, repulsive*, sorry*, vile*, dirty*, filthy*, sordid*, messy*, sickening*, foul; see also unpleasant.

    Antonyms nice*, dainty*, agreeable. *

  3. Dangerous

    pugnacious, quarrelsome, obnoxious, bellicose, rough, disagreeable, cantankerous, violent, vicious, evil, sinister, treacherous, wicked, formidable, truculent.

    Antonyms mild*, reasonable*, complaisant.

ugly Usage Examples

Modifying Another Word

  • hideously: It is such a hideously Ugly Car, we even have a newsletter we publish that provides us with lots of laughs.
  • downright: Additionally, the list has been given some spice by including a number of questions which are either bad, unpleasant or downright ugly!
  • decidedly: Their heads were too big for their bodies and their faces were decidedly ugly to look upon.
  • damn: Also, the phones that you need for this service are enormous, very heavy and damn ugly too.
  • incredibly: Yvain commences his quest by meeting a lady at a fountain, directed there by an incredibly ugly and monstrous Lord of the Animals.
  • plain: The regulators ' role will become one of helping to transfer best practice from the good to the bad and the plain ugly.

Preposition: as

  • hell: I don't think I need to tell you they're ugly as hell too.
  • sin: You can be as ugly as sin, keep your clothes on if you choose and still be a star.

Modifies a noun

  • duckling: Half soup, half stew, its " ugly duckling " looks hide the culinary swan beneath.
  • deuce: By its pay payoff jumps to coins ugly deuces on software inc.
  • mug: The only place I want to see your ugly mug is on the playing field.
  • sister: The Beast roars, the wicked witch casts her spells, the ugly sisters do their best to cause confusion.. .
  • head: However, the motor car started to rear its ugly head.
  • scar: The 50-mile long ' Expressway ' would carve a long ugly scar through that part of our countryside adjacent to the existing M6.

Used with adjective complement

  • turn: I decide to shelter in the relative calm of the British Council stand in case the scene turns ugly.
  • look: Used too frequently they not only look ugly, they deter readers.
  • get: I done got so ugly I don't even know myself!
  • feel: Some days i would wake up feeling so ugly that all I could do was cry.
  • win: He was, however, encouraged by his team's ability to " win ugly " .
  • become: It is at this point that things just might become very ugly.
ugly Quotes

All Middlesex is ugly, notwithstanding the millions upon millionswhichit iscontinuallysucking up fromtherestof the kingdom.

—Cobbett,William

Art produces ugly things which frequently become beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time.

—Cocteau,Jean

   It is better to be beautiful than to be good.But†it is better to be good than to be ugly.

—Wilde, Oscar Fingal O'FlahertieWills

Me'  re Ubu, tu es bien laide aujourd'hui. Est-ce parce que nous avons du monde? Mother Ubu, you are very ugly today. Is it because we have company?

—Jarry, Alfred

Errors look so very ugly in persons of small meansöone feels they are taking quite a liberty in going astray; whereas people of fortunemay naturally indulgeina few delinquencies.

—Eliot, George pseudonym of  MaryAnn Evans

There isnothing ugly; I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it mayölight, shade and perspective will always make it beautiful.

—Constable,John

A tourist is an ugly human being.

—Kincaid,Jamaica originally Elaine Potter Richardson

Beauty isthe first test: there isno permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics.

—Hardy, Godfrey Harold

I grant an ugly woman is a blot on the fair face of creation; but as to the gentleman, let them be solicitous to possess only strength and valour: let their motto be:öHunt, shoot, and fight: the rest is not worth a flip.

—Bronte«  , Charlotte

He'll be all right when he's married, as Mama says; and reformed rakes make the best husbands, everybody knows. I only wish he were not so uglyöthat's all I think aboutöbut then there's no choice here in the country.

—Bronte«  , Anne

Browse dictionary entries near ugly

  1. ugliness
  2. uglify
  3. Ugli fruit
  4. ugh
  5. Ugaritic
  6. Ugarit
  7. Uganda
  8. ufology
  9. UFO
  10. Ufa
  1. ugly duckling
  2. Ugrian
  3. Ugric
  4. UGS
  5. uh
  6. uh-huh
  7. uh-oh
  8. uh-uh
  9. UHF
  10. uhlan