- 1 unpleasant to look at synonym unattractive an ugly face an ugly building an ugly scar Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, feel, look, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … See full entry See related entries: Attractiveness
- 2 (of an event, a situation, etc.) unpleasant or dangerous; involving threats or violence an ugly incident There were ugly scenes in the streets last night as rioting continued. Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, look, sound, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … See full entry Word OriginMiddle English: from Old Norse uggligr ‘to be dreaded’, from ugga ‘to dread’.Extra examples A fight started and things got pretty ugly. It’s just plain ugly. The witch was hideously ugly. It was a large, ugly modern building. Jane was a great beauty, but I was always considered to be the ugly sister. The room was full of heavy, ugly furniture. The screaming child in her arms was an ugly little thing. There were ugly scenes in the capital last night as rioting continued.
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BrE BrE//ˈʌɡli//; NAmE NAmE//ˈʌɡli//
(uglier, ugliest) AttractivenessCheck pronunciation: ugly
