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
Relevance
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of ugly
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.
—
Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 16 Apr. 2026
An Olympic gold medalist's divorce is rearing its ugly head.
—Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 15 Apr. 2026
Word spread that a new band was throwing wildcat ragers in the ugliest parts of town.
—Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2026
Rockies’ law — anything that can go wrong, will go wrong — reared its ugly head Tuesday night in Houston.
—Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 15 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ugly
Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 16 Apr. 2026
An Olympic gold medalist's divorce is rearing its ugly head.
—Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 15 Apr. 2026
Word spread that a new band was throwing wildcat ragers in the ugliest parts of town.
—Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2026
Rockies’ law — anything that can go wrong, will go wrong — reared its ugly head Tuesday night in Houston.
—Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 15 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ugly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ugly
Adjective
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Car launches are generally ghastly events, and this was way down there with the most hideous… and perhaps gave a clue as to why VW struggles to match its huge European sales success in America.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
10 Apr. 2026
-
The hideous prospect of interviewing for jobs even more pointless than this one appears before me.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
This was in itself disgusting but also came to represent the city’s problems.—
Rachel Sugar,
Curbed,
8 Apr. 2026
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Living under an openly misogynistic president may have felt freakish in 2017, but by his second term, bigotry became yet another disgusting norm.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Not so in laissez-faire London, where unregulated insurance markets enabled all kinds of grotesque gambling schemes to thrive.—
Stuart Jeffries,
Air Mail,
4 Apr. 2026
-
The Goombas are Gremlin-like and grotesque.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The par 3 celebrity caddie idea is awful.—
Kait Hanson,
Southern Living,
13 Apr. 2026
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That's going to be awful difficult!—
Ashley Velie,
CBS News,
12 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Usually a team of elegant offense, Michigan instead clanked 13 triples off the rim and relied on its inside defensive ferocity to win a game nearly as aesthetically unpleasing as UConn’s 53-41 win over Butler in 2011.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
7 Apr. 2026
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Rosemary makes one of the best companion plants for apple trees because of its strong scent that's unpleasing to critters looking to snack on a juicy red apple.—
Ashlyn Needham,
The Spruce,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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On that horrible day, Dad was outside his vehicle supervising a ditch cleaning operation when a driver ignored traffic control devices, drove through a closed lane, and struck him, pinning him between two vehicles.—
Allysson Bornt,
New York Daily News,
19 Apr. 2026
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And every family has that annoying uncle that makes horrible jokes or one situation after another.—
Lexi Lane,
PEOPLE,
18 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Tokyo Scramble is a mess with its unattractive environments, lackluster stealth gameplay, inconsistent in-game systems, and laughably bad narrative beats.—
Zackery Cuevas,
PC Magazine,
14 Apr. 2026
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From the dramatic adolescent to the unpredictable PMS-ing woman to the irritable menopausal crone, unattractive stereotypes of women ruled by their hormones abound.—
Patricia Bencivenga,
STAT,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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In a sickening moment broadcast live after Boyes’s shot missed, Long moved quickly about, shooting many hostages.—
Graham Womack,
Sacbee.com,
3 Apr. 2026
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The feds also looked over Bied’s sickening business partnership with his co-conspirator in Indonesia, who Bied purchased multiple orangutan and Javan leopard skulls from.—
Tim Dunn,
Boston Herald,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ugly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ugly. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
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