Etymology : Middle English, from Old Norse uggligr, from uggr fear; akin to Old Norse ugga to fear
Pronunciation : &-glE
Function : adjective
Date : 13th century
1. not good looking, homely, unsightly; objectionable, unpleasant; morally offensive; unkind, mean, disagreeable; threatening, ominous. ugly\ug"ly\ , n. a shade for the face, projecting from the bonnet. [colloq. eng.] kingsley.ugly \ug"ly\, v. t. to make ugly. [r.]ugly \ug"ly\ , a. [compar. uglier ; superl. ugliest.] [icel. uggligr fearful, dreadful; uggr fear (akin to ugga to fear) + -ligr (akin to e. -ly, like). . cf. awe.].
2. offensive to the sight; contrary to beauty; being of disagreeable or loathsome aspect; unsightly; repulsive; deformed. the ugly view of his deformed crimes. like the toad, ugly and venomous. o, i have passed a miserable night, so full of ugly sights, of ghastly dreams.
3. ill-natured; crossgrained; quarrelsome; as, an ugly temper; to feel ugly. [colloq. u. s.].
4. unpleasant; disagreeable; likely to cause trouble or loss; as, an ugly rumor; an ugly customer. [colloq.]ugly adj.
5. displeasing to the senses and morally revolting; "an ugly face"; "ugly furniture"; "war is ugly" [ant: beautiful].
6. deficient in beauty; "ugly gray slums".
7. inclined to anger or bad feelings with overtones of menace; "a surly waiter"; "an ugly frame of mind" [syn: surly].
8. morally reprehensible; "would do something as despicable as murder"; "ugly crimes"; "the vile development of slavery appalled them" [syn: despicable, vile, unworthy].
9. threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments; "a baleful look"; "forbidding thunderclouds"; "his tone became menacing"; "ominous rumblings of discontent"; "sinister storm clouds"; "a sinister smile"; "his threatening behavior"; "ugly black clouds"; "the situation became ugly" [syn: baleful, forbidding, menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threatening].
10. provoking horror; "an atrocious automobile accident"; "a frightful crime of decapitation"; "an alarming, even horrifying, picture"; "war is beyond all words horrible"- winston churchill; "an ugly wound" [syn: atrocious, frightful, horrifying, horrible].
11. Offensive to the sight; contrary to beauty; being of disagreeable or loathsome aspect; unsightly; repulsive; deformed.
12. Ill-natured; crossgrained; quarrelsome; as, an ugly temper; to feel ugly.
13. Unpleasant; disagreeable; likely to cause trouble or loss; as, an ugly rumor; an ugly customer.
14. A shade for the face, projecting from the bonnet.
15. To make ugly. deficient in beauty; "ugly gray slums" displeasing to the senses and morally revolting; "an ugly face"; "ugly furniture"; "war is ugly".
16. 1. If you say that someone or something is ugly, you mean that they are very unattractive and unpleasant to look at. an ugly little hat She makes me feel dowdy and ugly. ¡Ù beautiful + ugliness ug·li·ness the raw ugliness of his native city. ¡Ù beauty.
17. If you refer to an event or situation as ugly, you mean that it is very unpleasant, usually because it involves violent or aggressive behaviour. There have been some ugly scenes The confrontation turned ugly. + ugliness ug·li·ness the subtlety and ugliness of sexual harassment.
18. to rear its ugly head: see:
head.