1
as in ugly
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
the hideous way in which she treated her maid after she discovered her ring was missing
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in gruesome
extremely disturbing or repellent
a hideous crime that could not be fully described in the newspapers
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in grotesque
unpleasant to look at
wearing a hideous Halloween mask that made the kids all jump with fright
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in dreadfulness
the quality of inspiring intense dread or dismay
the indescribable hideousness of the squalor in which the villagers are forced to live
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2
as in badness
the state or quality of being utterly evil
the hideousness of the defendant's alleged crimes should not prevent him from getting a fair trial
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hideous
Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2025
Within the span of a few days, an innocuous speck can turn a loaf of bread from prime sandwich material into a hideous mass of blue-green fuzz—an appetite-killing sight if ever there was one.
—Caroline Tien, SELF, 1 May 2025
The Imperial City Sewers you’re meant to traverse while learning the basics of the game look hideous and vile.
—Jamal Michel, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
In each of these films, cruelty commingles with tenderness, and hideous acts take place against backdrops of often stunning natural beauty.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hideous
Adjective
At dinnertime, the restaurant is busy, but not slammed; the crowd seems to be largely made up of people with beautiful hair and compellingly hideous shoes.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2025
Within the span of a few days, an innocuous speck can turn a loaf of bread from prime sandwich material into a hideous mass of blue-green fuzz—an appetite-killing sight if ever there was one.
—Caroline Tien, SELF, 1 May 2025
The Imperial City Sewers you’re meant to traverse while learning the basics of the game look hideous and vile.
—Jamal Michel, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
In each of these films, cruelty commingles with tenderness, and hideous acts take place against backdrops of often stunning natural beauty.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hideous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hideous
Adjective
-
Tech wealth here looks even less appealing than that of the Roy family (the expensively beige décor is even uglier).—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
4 June 2025
-
During the negotiation of USMCA in 2018, the current trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada that Trump managed during his first term, conversations between the President and GM occasionally turned ugly.—
Jackie Charniga,
USA Today,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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But Trump and Epstein’s association has been out in the open for nearly a quarter century; nineties-era footage of the gruesome twosome together at Mar-a-Lago, leering at a group of young cheerleaders, has been circulating since at least 2019.—
Jessica Winter,
New Yorker,
6 June 2025
-
Six decades later, Hamas would engage in a gruesome competition with Fatah to outdo one another with terrorist attacks during the 1990s and early 2000s.—
Sean Durns,
The Washington Examiner,
6 June 2025
Adjective
-
If, like for me, Lewis Carroll’s 1865 fairy tale about a girl who stumbles into Wonderland is a core memory, all those beloved characters are there, with a splendidly cogent (and at times delightfully grotesque) libretto.—
Lauren Warnecke,
Chicago Tribune,
6 June 2025
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The gore may have felt too grotesque to shoot in live action using makeup and prosthetics, and potentially unbearable for some audiences to watch.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
6 June 2025
Adjective
-
Conrad wraps the conversation by being incredibly disgusting about Bella’s nether regions.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
1 June 2025
-
For the next 200 years, snails only appeared in Parisian cookbooks alongside an apology for including such a disgusting ingredient.—
Garritt C. Van Dyk,
Smithsonian Magazine,
29 May 2025
Adjective
-
This is what Qasem Hassan had feared from the start—that the horrific violence inflicted on Israelis on October 7th would be used to justify a war without limits, dehumanizing all Palestinians.—
Eyal Press,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
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That this horrific upheaval comes care of Lucy’s work is the real kicker.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
9 June 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
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
Noun
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Phobias, a silent clown duo with a horror twist, brought eerie theatrics to the stage — complete with balloon popping and unsettling surprises — and successfully freaked out the judges (especially Howie Mandel).—
Jessica Lynch,
Billboard,
4 June 2025
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The project marks the Indian star’s first horror entertainer, a departure from his typical action fare.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
3 June 2025
Adjective
-
Over the 18 games following a 21-run eruption against the historically awful Colorado Rockies, the Padres ranked last in the majors in OPS and third-to-last in runs per game.—
Dennis Lin,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
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The timing isn’t awful for SDFC, which doesn’t play its next league game until June 14 and expected Lozano to be absent possibly into early July on national-team duty.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hideous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hideous. Accessed 12 Jun. 2025.
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