1
as in hideous
unpleasant to look at
her first attempt at painting was pretty ugly—a portrait of her sister that was not at all flattering
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disgusting
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
an ugly suggestion for controlling the overpopulation of deer in the area
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ugly
The fabric is extremely ugly, a busy pattern of multiple shapes of various colors (including teal, green, pink, silver, orange) and neon fringe that looks like Lisa Frank run through a Troma-esque Toxic Avenger filter.
—
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 29 Aug. 2025
Advertisement Maybe that makes Bugonia sound sort of fun—and the movie does contain some ridiculously over-the-top exploding-bodies gore—but Lanthimos goes out of his way to amp up the story’s ugly, brutish qualities.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 28 Aug. 2025
Things had gotten relatively ugly between the two parties, which has led to his trade to the Packers.
—Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly, ‘Look of the Week’ is a regular series dedicated to unpacking the most talked about outfit of the last seven days.
—Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ugly
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 29 Aug. 2025
Advertisement Maybe that makes Bugonia sound sort of fun—and the movie does contain some ridiculously over-the-top exploding-bodies gore—but Lanthimos goes out of his way to amp up the story’s ugly, brutish qualities.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 28 Aug. 2025
Things had gotten relatively ugly between the two parties, which has led to his trade to the Packers.
—Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly, ‘Look of the Week’ is a regular series dedicated to unpacking the most talked about outfit of the last seven days.
—Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ugly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ugly
Adjective
-
Hart was short, with a hideous combover.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
30 Aug. 2025
-
That hideous incentive triggered My Lai and other similarly heinous attacks.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
That's also disgusting, so don't do that.—
Skyler Caruso,
People.com,
26 Aug. 2025
-
One of the guests makes a disgusting joke involving the boat and lubricant.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
26 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Anything less would legitimize kidnapping as an instrument of war and set a grotesque precedent.—
Irwin Redlener,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Aug. 2025
-
The animals' grotesque appearance has drawn comparisons to zombies and Frankenstein's monster.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
19 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
But for the rest of us mere mortals, the idea of stepping into an ice bath for 10 minutes a day is awful.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
3 Sep. 2025
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And then these families are in this awful position.—
Elizabeth B. Kim,
The Enquirer,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Smears on non-sensor areas of the tiara are like bug debris on your hood, aesthetically unpleasing but not harmful.—
Eric Tegler,
Popular Mechanics,
1 Oct. 2019
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His side's inability to finish off the game against Burnley on the other hand was very unpleasing.—
SI.com,
SI.com,
1 Feb. 2018
Adjective
-
But that spring, my mental health wasn’t in a good place thanks to the volatile combination of two years of pandemic lockdown, switching my antidepressants, my undiagnosed ADHD and a horrible case of writer's block.—
Alison Cochrun,
People.com,
31 Aug. 2025
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The Succession Wars took a much darker turn thanks to the development of not just Battlemechs but of horrible flesh and steel monsters called abominations.—
Rob Wieland,
Forbes.com,
30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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However, in my view, Klarna’s IPO still looks more like a means for current investors to cash out and dump an unattractive stock on unsuspecting public investors.—
David Trainer,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
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Trump has long said wind power turbines are unattractive and endanger birds, and that solar installations take up too much land.—
Spencer Kimball,
CNBC,
24 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
One newspaper here calling the summit, sickening, shameful, and, in the end, useless.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 Aug. 2025
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The practice is one of a sickening array of battlefield mistreatments recorded on video either by Ukrainian surveillance drones or Russian servicemen and then circulated on social media.—
Andrew Carey,
CNN Money,
28 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ugly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ugly. Accessed 6 Sep. 2025.
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