Antonyms for ugly
| Grammar : Adj |
| Spell : uhg-lee |
| Phonetic Transcription : ˈʌg li |
Definition of ugly
Origin :- mid-13c., uglike "frightful or horrible in appearance," from Old Norse uggligr "dreadful, fearful," from uggr "fear, apprehension, dread" (perhaps related to agg "strife, hate") + -ligr "-like." Meaning softened to "very unpleasant to look at" late 14c. Extended sense of "morally offensive" is attested from c.1300; that of "ill-tempered" is from 1680s.
- Among words for this concept, ugly is unusual in being formed from a root for "fear, dread." More common is a compound meaning "ill-shaped" (e.g. Greek dyseides, Latin deformis, Irish dochrud, Sanskrit ku-rupa). Another Germanic group has a root sense of "hate, sorrow" (see loath). Ugly duckling (1877) is from the story by Hans Christian Andersen, first translated from Danish to English 1846. Ugly American "U.S. citizen who behaves offensively abroad" is first recorded 1958 as a book title.
- adj unattractive
- adj unpleasant, disagreeable
- adj dangerous, threatening
- One of mine, as I have heretofore said, is to give an ugly likeness.
- Extract from : « Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9) » by Samuel Richardson
- "Because we have chosen what is bad, and do not know how ugly it is—that is why," answered her father.
- Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald
- But was it possible he should ever wake to see how ugly his conduct had been?
- Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald
- I could almost marry Strathay to save him from the ugly millioned girls!
- Extract from : « The Bacillus of Beauty » by Harriet Stark
- "You may be ugly, but ye've served me well," Saunders began.
- Extract from : « Quaint Courtships » by Various
- Reminds me of a cat'mount I tried to tame once, only he's twice as ugly.
- Extract from : « The Underdog » by F. Hopkinson Smith
- "John says he's an ugly child," she said to Eleanor, glancing angrily at her son.
- Extract from : « The Foolish Lovers » by St. John G. Ervine
- Very likely it saved us from an ugly trouble on the day of the Imperial visit to the City.
- Extract from : « The Secret Agent » by Joseph Conrad
- Alberich was the most hideous of all the black, ugly little Nibelungs.
- Extract from : « Opera Stories from Wagner » by Florence Akin
- Then he put on the helmet and changed himself into a fierce, ugly dragon.
- Extract from : « Opera Stories from Wagner » by Florence Akin
Synonyms for ugly
- angry
- animal
- appalling
- awful
- bad-looking
- base
- beastly
- bellicose
- black
- cantankerous
- crabbed
- crabby
- dark
- deformed
- despicable
- dirty
- disagreeable
- disfigured
- disgusting
- distasteful
- dour
- evil
- fell
- filthy
- forbidding
- formidable
- foul
- frightful
- gloomy
- glum
- grave
- grievous
- grisly
- gross
- grotesque
- hard-featured
- hideous
- homely
- horrid
- ignoble
- ill-favored
- loathsome
- low
- low-down
- major
- malevolent
- mean
- menacing
- messy
- misshapen
- monstrous
- morose
- nasty
- nauseous
- noisome
- not much to look at
- objectionable
- obnoxious
- odious
- offensive
- ominous
- pesky
- plain
- pugnacious
- quarrelsome
- repellent
- repelling
- repugnant
- repulsive
- revolting
- rough
- saturnine
- scandalous
- scowling
- serious
- servile
- shocking
- sickening
- sinister
- sordid
- sorry
- spiteful
- sullen
- surly
- terrible
- treacherous
- troublesome
- troublous
- truculent
- unbeautiful
- uncomely
- uninviting
- unlovely
- unprepossessing
- unseemly
- unsightly
- vexatious
- vicious
- vile
- violent
- wicked
- wretched
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019