as in ugly
unpleasant to look at
strip-mining leaves an unsightly gash in the landscape
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of unsightly
Blasena emphasizes that lighting and draping that eliminates unsightly walls can make a space feel intimate, while a focal bar, signature cocktails, a photo booth, and late-night tchotchkes, such as glow sticks, flashing glasses, and flip flops, can amp up the atmosphere.
—
Shelby Wax, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2025
Or offering to pay for and arrange the removal of the unsightly sandbox.
—R. Eric Thomas, Mercury News, 18 Oct. 2025
After heavy rains, concert-goers took to sliding down the slopes southwest of the Liberty Memorial, leaving the area an unsightly mess.
—Dan Kelly
october 2, Kansas City Star, 2 Oct. 2025
Putin was portrayed as an unsightly troll, who, by an act of magic—a spell cast by the puppet version of Boris Berezovsky, the magnate who helped engineer his rise to the Presidency—comes to appear beautiful and virtuous, the subject of great adulation and deference.
—Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unsightly
Shelby Wax, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2025
Or offering to pay for and arrange the removal of the unsightly sandbox.
—R. Eric Thomas, Mercury News, 18 Oct. 2025
After heavy rains, concert-goers took to sliding down the slopes southwest of the Liberty Memorial, leaving the area an unsightly mess.
—Dan Kelly
october 2, Kansas City Star, 2 Oct. 2025
Putin was portrayed as an unsightly troll, who, by an act of magic—a spell cast by the puppet version of Boris Berezovsky, the magnate who helped engineer his rise to the Presidency—comes to appear beautiful and virtuous, the subject of great adulation and deference.
—Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unsightly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsightly
Adjective
-
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,
29 Jan. 2026
-
There are also two stepsisters, neither ugly but one quite bratty.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
29 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
“Unsightly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsightly. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
