ugly

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ugly

/ˈʌɡli/
/ˈɜɡli/
/ˈɘ̞ɡli/

Sounds like ugli · Rhymes with -ʌɡli

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English ugly, uggely, uglike, borrowed from Old Norse uggligr (“fearful, dreadful, horrible in appearance”), from uggr (“fear, apprehension, dread”) (possibly related to agg (“strife, hate”)), equivalent to ug + -ly. Cognate with Scots ugly, uglie, Icelandic ugglegur. Meaning softened to "very unpleasant to look at" around the late 14th century, and sense of "morally offensive" attested from around 1300.

For the meaning development compare Bulgarian грозен (grozen) (< Proto-Slavic *grozьnъ), Russian стра́шный (strášnyj) (< Proto-Slavic *strašьnъ < *straxъ); Latin foedus (< Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂-).

adjective uglier · ugliest · ougly

Displeasing to the eye; aesthetically unpleasing. the ugly view of his deformed crimes
Similar: hideous, homely, repulsive, unattractive, uncomely, unsightly
Displeasing to the ear or some other sense.
Similar: displeasing, repulsive, unattractive
Offensive to one's sensibilities or morality. He played an ugly trick on us.
Similar: corrupt, immoral, vile
Southern US Ill-natured; crossgrained; quarrelsome. an ugly temper; to feel ugly
derogatory, figuratively Unpleasant; disagreeable; likely to cause trouble or loss. an ugly customer, wound or rumor

noun uglies · ougly

slang, uncountable Ugliness. I want your ugly / I want your disease.
countable, slang, uncountable An ugly person or thing.
countable, informal, uncountable Any product whose size and shape prevents it from fitting neatly on a pallet. These are firstly for products which need a cool room; secondly for products which can be stored on a standard pallet without overhang; and thirdly for products known as "the uglies" which always overhang a standard pallet.
UK, countable, dated, informal, uncountable A shade for the face, projecting from a bonnet. […] camp-stools, telescopes, poetry-books, blue uglies, red petticoats, and parasols of every hue.

verb uglies · uglying · uglied · ougly

nonstandard, transitive To make ugly (sometimes with up). I move noiselessly, eat my food carefully without uglying the dining table with its remnants, fold my bedsheets in neat rectangles and place them on the bed in perfect symmetry.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: unsightly, ill-favored, unlovely, inaesthetic, unpicturesque, ill-favoured, hideous, unworthy, repulsive, despicable, sinister, evil, vile, atrocious, monstrous, horrible

adjective

Translations

Every language

adj displeasing to the eye; not aesthetically pleasing

Español	feo
한국어	추악하다 chuakhada, 못생기다 motsaenggida
日本語	醜い minikui, 見苦しい migurushii, 格好悪い kakkowarui
中文	難看 /难看 nánkàn, 醜 /丑 chǒu, 媸 chī, 醜陋 /丑陋 chǒulòu
हिन्दी	असुंदर asundar, कुरूप kurūp, बदसूरत badsūrat
Português	feio
Français	laid, moche, vilain
Deutsch	hässlich, häßlich (pre-1996), unschön
Italiano	brutto, laido
Ελληνικά	άσχημος áschimos
Română	urât
Русский	безобра́зный bezobráznyj, уро́дливый uródlivyj, некраси́вый nekrasívyj, стра́шный strášnyj
Tiếng Việt	xấu, xấu xí
العربية	قَبِيح qabīḥ, بَشِع bašiʕ
עברית	מכוער \ מְכֹעָר mekhoár

adj displeasing to the ear or some other sense

中文	難聽 /难听 nántīng
Italiano	sgradevole
Română	neplăcut

adj offensive to one's sensibilities or morality

Français	vilain

noun ugly person

Español	callo, callo malayo, feo, fea
Deutsch	Kackbratze, Schreckschraube, Vogelscheuche

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MLA

"ugly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ugly. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ugly. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ugly

Chicago

"ugly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ugly.

BibTeX

@misc{ugly_2026,
  title = {ugly},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ugly},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}