ugly
268
4.9
- adjective
- /ˈʌɡli/
:
despreciable
- His ugly behavior during the meeting showed a lack of respect for others.
- rear its ugly head
- ugly reality
- an ugly incident
There are all sorts of people who have some ugly views, who have some backwards views.
- There are all sorts of people who have some ugly views, who have some backwards views.
- And I, I've never encountered anything that dark and ugly and just inhuman before.
- You know, nothing's more ugly to me than than some somebody who's spoiled.
- But you don't understand the whole ugly underbelly.
- And the worst and ugliest of all is this.
Examples
-
The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant.
-
Being in love with you like I am brings out that ugly jealous side.
Fiction book (1990) -
Have you any idea how ugly that can make me?
-
Belief never turns so ugly, you might say, as when it thinks it has done with itself.
Academic text (1998) -
It's selfish, It's ugly, it's beneath us, and we really have to stop it.
-
There are all sorts of people who have some ugly views, who have some backwards views.
-
That was an ugly and repressive time and I'm glad that it's over.
-
Discovering a loved one dead from drugs carried an ugly resonance for her.
Fiction book (1992) -
Furthermore, these efforts, laudable as far as they go, don't address many ugly abuses in medical education.
Academic text (2003) -
At war's end, the western Soviet lands were ugly scenes of the sheer devastation of the past barbaric conflicts.
Academic text (1996)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Morally wrong or harmful to other people
∞
1.0
Very bad or unpleasant and causing dislike
457
1.8
Words or actions that hurt people
171
5.1
Very ugly and likely to make people feel shocked or disgusted
157
5.0
Very bad and morally wrong
149
4.6
A person or action that is very bad and cruel
95
5.7
Very bad in a way that makes people feel strong dislike and disgust
86
4.1
A person or action that is very bad and dishonest
75
6.9
Being very strange and ugly in a way that shocks or amuses
71
4.9
Morally wrong or deserving strong criticism
47
6.5
A person who is dishonest and unpleasant, so others do not trust them
42
7.8
Very unpleasant and morally wrong to most people
29
7.2
Something people think is morally wrong or dishonest
24
7.2
Very bad or morally wrong so people strongly dislike it
23
7.7
Causing strong dislike or disgust because people see it as morally wrong
21
7.2
Morally wrong because it goes against religious rules
20
8.2
Very unpleasant and likely to make people feel strong dislike
20
7.7
Causing strong disgust or hatred in people
20
5.4
Deserves strong blame or dislike
15
7.1
Very bad in a moral way and deserving strong blame
4
8.2
Very bad and unpleasant, of poor quality
2
7.2
Very unpleasant to look at or to be with
Causing a strong feeling of dislike or making people feel sick
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
3
4.2
Someone or something that seems not attractive at first but later becomes admired
How Offensive
- Formal
92
9.0
268
4.9
- Offensive
261
4.0
30
4.6
215
1.0
Surface Forms
Etymology
Ugly comes from an old Norse word uggligr meaning 'frightening' or 'to fear'. That's why calling an action or event ugly means it is morally shocking or offensive, like something that makes people feel upset or disgusted.