hideous

adjective

hid·​eous ˈhi-dē-əs How to pronounce hideous (audio)
1
: offensive to the senses and especially to sight : exceedingly ugly
hideous furniture
The dress looked hideous on her.
2
: morally offensive : shocking
a hideous crime
hideosity noun
hideously adverb
hideousness noun

Example Sentences

The room was filled with hideous furniture. the hideous way in which she treated her maid after she discovered her ring was missing
Recent Examples on the Web The twisted nightmares of bioengineering, with hideous orifices and unnatural urges, are bad; normal is good. Noah Berlatsky, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2023 That rather hideous Marilyn sculpture Art critic Christopher Knight flagged for me Friday that a three-judge panel of California’s 4th District Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit over the 26-foot-tall Marilyn Monroe statue in front of the Palm Springs Art Museum. Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2023 Finally, the perfect excuse to bust out the sherry while reclining in a hideous chair. Vulture, 15 Jan. 2023 At the moment, as the Miami Heat regroup from consecutive hideous losses, hope wears No. 4. Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 7 Dec. 2022 Every unsettling creature, villager that acts strangely, and hideous creature comes together to make an engaging adventure. Brittany Vincent, BGR, 26 Feb. 2022 Harmless—if hideous—relics. Hazlitt, 28 June 2022 Is anyone working on a Chrome extension to make Google Docs look less hideous? Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 24 Mar. 2023 His murders were really shocking and hideous. Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 17 Aug. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hideous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

alteration of Middle English hidous, from Anglo-French hidus, hisdos, from Old French hisde, hide terror

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of hideous was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near hideous

Cite this Entry

“Hideous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hideous. Accessed 29 May. 2023.

Kids Definition

hideous

adjective
hid·​eous ˈhid-ē-əs How to pronounce hideous (audio)
: horribly ugly or disgusting : frightful
hideously adverb
hideousness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on hideous

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