as in ugly
unpleasant to look at
a makeshift shelter that was unbeautiful perhaps, but it kept us out of the rain
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Recent Examples of unbeautiful
Then over the Pont de la Concorde, an unbeautiful bridge that holds great historical significance.
—
Anna Hartley, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2022
But it is often done in some very unbeautiful circumstances, for low wages, and in unhealthy work environments.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 10 Aug. 2022
Buddhism was born under a giant fig tree, which, today, grows at the center of the remote and unbeautiful town of Bodh Gaya, in India’s destitute northeastern state of Bihar.
—Paul Salopek, The New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2019
These things are for the unbeautiful, the uneducated, the uncouth.
—Dwight Garner, New York Times, 21 June 2017
Our sound, right now, is going to be the most blatant way of saying things -- the most unbeautiful, realistic lyrics.
—Taylor Weatherby, Billboard, 20 June 2017
Anna Hartley, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2022
But it is often done in some very unbeautiful circumstances, for low wages, and in unhealthy work environments.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 10 Aug. 2022
Buddhism was born under a giant fig tree, which, today, grows at the center of the remote and unbeautiful town of Bodh Gaya, in India’s destitute northeastern state of Bihar.
—Paul Salopek, The New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2019
These things are for the unbeautiful, the uneducated, the uncouth.
—Dwight Garner, New York Times, 21 June 2017
Our sound, right now, is going to be the most blatant way of saying things -- the most unbeautiful, realistic lyrics.
—Taylor Weatherby, Billboard, 20 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unbeautiful
Adjective
-
Not because the moms themselves are toxic people, but because the dynamic shifts into an ugly place with mean-girl behavior.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
14 Jan. 2026
-
Many quite authentic Natives were targeted for banishment, and the ugly infighting their work inspired was covered widely—by the standards of Indian affairs—in the American media, which saw the battles as part of the larger identity wars raging across the nation in the new millennium.—
David Treuer,
The Atlantic,
13 Jan. 2026
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
Adjective
-
Such jars of moldy fruit were probably fairly hideous to consume.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Jan. 2026
-
The Rodents of Unusual Size that attack Westley in a swamp work because they are played by small men in rodent suits, rather than coolly conjured from pixels; their deliberate artifice is the thrill, and Reiner provided the voice for their hideous snorts.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
17 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Those artists never stopped creating scenes that captured the vibrancy—and sometimes the more grotesque side too—of places that remain world capitals today.—
Condé Nast Traveler,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 Jan. 2026
-
The grotesque charade didn’t seem to belong to this world.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unbeautiful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unbeautiful. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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