ug|ly

ug|ly «UHG lee», adjective, -li|er, -li|est, noun, plural -lies.

–adj.

1. very unpleasant to look at: »

an ugly house, an ugly face.

2. loathsome; vile, especially: a) very bad or disagreeable; offensive; nasty: »

an ugly smell, an ugly task.

b) morally offensive or repulsive; base: »

ugly language, an ugly act of treason.

3. likely to cause trouble; threatening; dangerous: »

ugly clouds. The wound looked sore and ugly. Death is the ugly fact which Nature has to hide (Alexander Smith).

4. Informal. very ill-natured; cross; bad-tempered; quarrelsome: »

an ugly dog, an ugly temper, an ugly customer.

–n.

an ugly person or thing: »

Peers and judges, beauties and uglies (Pall Mall Gazette).

╂[< Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic uggligr dreadful < uggr fear)]

Synonym Study adjective. 1 Ugly, unsightly, homely mean not pleasing in appearance. Ugly, the strongest of the three, means positively unpleasant or offensive in appearance: »

There are two ugly, gaudy lamps in the room.

Unsightly means unpleasing to the sight through carelessness or neglect: »

Trains approach the station through an unsightly section of the city.

Homely means lacking in beauty or attractiveness, but does not suggest unpleasant or disagreeable qualities: »

A homely child often develops into an attractive adult.