What does "ugly" mean?
Ugliness.
Ugly
/ˈʌɡli/ adj, noun, verb, slang
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Ugliness.
- Grammar: ugly is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abominable, alarming, atrocious, awful.
- Useful contrasts: attractive, beautiful, comely.
- Usage evidence: The big ugly tree destroys the beauty of the house.
How to use "ugly"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "ugly" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "ugly" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "ugly" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "ugly" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "ugly" is acting as adj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abominable" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "ugly", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Ugliness. slang, uncountable
"I want your ugly / I want your disease."
- 2 An ugly person or thing. countable, slang, uncountable
- 3 Any product whose size and shape prevents it from fitting neatly on a pallet. countable, informal, uncountable
"These are firstly for products which need a cool room; secondly for products which can be stored on a standard pallet without overhang; and thirdly for products known as "the uglies" which always overhang a standard pallet."
- 4 A shade for the face, projecting from a bonnet. UK, countable, dated, informal, uncountable
"[…] camp-stools, telescopes, poetry-books, blue uglies, red petticoats, and parasols of every hue."
Verb
- 1 To make ugly (sometimes with up). nonstandard, transitive
"I move noiselessly, eat my food carefully without uglying the dining table with its remnants, fold my bedsheets in neat rectangles and place them on the bed in perfect symmetry."
Adjective
- 1 Displeasing to the eye; aesthetically unpleasing.
"the ugly view of his deformed crimes"
- 2 Displeasing to the ear or some other sense.
- 3 Offensive to one's sensibilities or morality.
"He played an ugly trick on us."
- 4 Ill-natured; crossgrained; quarrelsome. Southern-US
"an ugly temper; to feel ugly"
- 5 Unpleasant; disagreeable; likely to cause trouble or loss. derogatory, figuratively
"an ugly rumour; an ugly customer; an ugly wound"
Adjective
- 1 provoking horror wordnet
- 2 displeasing to the senses wordnet
- 3 morally reprehensible wordnet
- 4 inclined to anger or bad feelings with overtones of menace wordnet
Example
"The big ugly tree destroys the beauty of the house."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "ugly"?
Common synonyms include: abominable, alarming, atrocious, awful, awkward, bad.
How do you use "ugly" in a sentence?
The big ugly tree destroys the beauty of the house.
How do you pronounce "ugly"?
Pronounced /ˈʌɡli/.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English ugly, uggely, uglike, borrowed from Old Norse uggligr (“fearful, dreadful, horrible in appearance”), from uggr (“fear, apprehension, dread”) (possibly related to agg (“strife, hate”)), equivalent to ug + -ly. Cognate with Scots ugly, uglie, Icelandic ugglegur. Meaning softened to "very unpleasant to look at" around the late 14th century, and sense of "morally offensive" attested from around 1300. For the meaning development compare Bulgarian грозен (grozen) (< Proto-Slavic *grozьnъ), Russian стра́шный (strášnyj) (< Proto-Slavic *strašьnъ < *straxъ); Latin foedus (< Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂-).