ugly

play

adjective ug·ly \ ˈə-glē \

Definition of ugly

uglier; ugliest

1 :frightful, dire

2 a :offensive to the sight :hideous

b :offensive or unpleasant to any sense

3 :morally offensive or objectionable

corruption—the ugliest stain of all

4 a :likely to cause inconvenience or discomfort

the ugly truth

b :surly, quarrelsome

an ugly disposition

—

uglily

play \ˈə-glə-lē\ adverb

See ugly defined for English-language learners

See ugly defined for kids

Examples of ugly in a Sentence

an ugly shade of green
They avoided what could have been an ugly situation.
He has an ugly disposition.

Recent Examples of ugly from the Web

But the point is: This rebuild is going to be ugly sometimes.

— k.c. johnson, chicagotribune.com, "Five projected rotation players for Bulls offered mixed summer league bag," 15 July 2017
But mostly Mr Trump stood back and watched as his rivals exposed deep and ugly divisions on the centre-ground and left of American politics.

— The Economist, "If Donald Trump won a second termSuppose the Trump show runs and runs," 13 July 2017
Any American who travels to any foreign country must always strive to not be an ugly American.

— Cincinnati.com, "Ch@troom: Response for Warmbier? Not so fast," 5 July 2017
Four years ago, Eileen Gonzales and her live-in fiancé had a painful, ugly breakup.

— lisa haney, Good Housekeeping, "How I Dropped 62 Pounds and a Bad Relationship," 30 June 2017
The season-long numbers on Hamels paint an equally ugly picture.

— michael beller, SI.com, "Cole Hamels is struggling to miss bats, and it may signal long-term problems for the Rangers," 28 June 2017
The Enquirer brings you the 50 most influential people in Bengals history through various forms of media, bringing you the names and untold stories that shaped this franchise over its first half century -- good, bad and ugly.

— cincinnati enquirer, Cincinnati.com, "Bengals Beat Podcast: Bob Bedinghaus and the stadium deal," 27 June 2017
There is untested new technology that may determine who'll win if this ugly situation turns even uglier.

— joe pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "What the Battles of the Past Tell Us About the New Air War Over Syria," 20 June 2017
This is some pretty ugly stuff, and the pushback could have been messy.

— shanita hubbard, The Root, "Hip-Hop, Mental Health and Telling Our Stories: Combat Jack Talks the Life and Death of Chris Lighty," 17 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ugly.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ugly

Middle English, from Old Norse uggligr, from uggr fear; akin to Old Norse ugga to fear

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First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

ugly Synonyms

Near Antonyms

shapely; imposing, impressive, prepossessing

ugly

adverb

Definition of ugly

:in an ugly manner

was acting ugly

Recent Examples of ugly from the Web

CBS: 4th/3rd/7th among Ks Yahoo: 4th among Ks NFL: 10th among Ks Defense/Special Teams The outlook is....pretty ugly.

— matthew vantryon, Indianapolis Star, "Here's how the Indianapolis Colts stack up in fantasy football rankings," 21 Aug. 2017
His second half – 8.15 ERA, .316 batting average against – has been particularly ugly, although Reds pitching coach Mack Jenkins pointed out that a couple nuclear outings have inflated those numbers to an extent.

— zach buchanan, Cincinnati.com, "Michael Lorenzen: ‘I’m learning how to pitch now’," 18 Aug. 2017
Admissions has to be transparent about the good, bad, and ugly at their institutions so students know what to expect and can truly find their right fit.

— valerie strauss, Washington Post, "Getting into college was the easy part. Staying there is becoming harder than ever, experts say.," 14 Aug. 2017
Yeah, art costs more than ugly (although the Bartle Sky Stations might suggest that money won’t buy beauty and public art will draw detractors).

— scott canon, kansascity, "A smart city need not be ugly," 7 Aug. 2017
But on Saturday, ugly bumped heads with ugly when a middle-aged man who was standing by the sign ripped it from the wall, crumpling it in the process.

— kathy flanigan, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Man hates brewery's anti-hate sign and tears it down," 25 July 2017
Studies show that high-intensity exercise offers myriad health benefits, but for a small subset of people, many of them beginners, rhabdo can crop up and quickly turn ugly.

— anahad o’connor, New York Times, "As Workouts Intensify, a Harmful Side Effect Grows More Common," 17 July 2017
Unfortunately, in Missouri, the battle between the city of St. Louis and the Republican state Legislature over minimum wage has turned very ugly and, not surprisingly, overtly racial.

— jason johnson, The Root, "How Do You Get a Pay Cut on Your Day Off? St. Louis Politicians Fail Again on Minimum Wage," 17 July 2017
News, Martha beat out 13 other ugly-but-cute animals, including a 16-year-old Brussels Griffon-pug mix named Moe and a 14-year-old Chinese Crested-Harke mix, to take home the $1,500 prize for her family.

— zoë weiner, Teen Vogue, "World's Ugliest Dog Title Goes to Mastiff Named Martha," 26 June 2017

First Known Use of ugly

14th century

UGLY Defined for English Language Learners

ugly

play

adjective

Definition of ugly for English Language Learners

: unpleasant to look at : not pretty or attractive
: unpleasant to hear
: offensive or disgusting

UGLY Defined for Kids

ugly

play

adjective ug·ly \ ˈə-glē \

Definition of ugly for Students

uglier; ugliest

1 :unpleasant to look at :not attractive

He was an ugly dog, but already, I loved him with all my heart.
—Kate DiCamillo, Because of Winn-Dixie

2 :¹offensive 1

ugly habits

3 :likely to cause bother or discomfort :troublesome

an ugly situation

4 :showing a mean or quarrelsome disposition

an ugly temper

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ugliness

noun

Learn More about ugly

See words that rhyme with ugly Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for ugly Spanish Central: Translation of ugly Nglish: Translation of ugly for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of ugly for Arabic speakers

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