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Hideous vs Ugly - What's the difference?

hideous | ugly |

Ugly is a antonym of hideous.

Ugly is a synonym of hideous.



As adjectives the difference between hideous and ugly

is that hideous is frightful; shocking; extremely ugly while ugly is displeasing to the eye; not aesthetically pleasing.

As a noun ugly is

ugliness.

hideous

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Frightful; shocking; extremely ugly.
    • A piteous and hideous spectacle." .
  • Distressing or offensive to the ear; horrible.
  • * 1719 ,
    • He started up, growling at first, but finding his leg broken, fell down again; and then got upon three legs, and gave the most hideous roar that ever I heard.
  • Hateful; shocking.
    • Sure, you have some hideous matter to deliver. -

    Usage notes

    * Nouns to which "hideous" is often applied: monster, creature, man, face, thing, crime, form, death, aspect, spectacle, picture, roar, sound, manner, way, disease, mistake, shape, dress, fact, act, smile.

    Synonyms

    * frightful, ghastly, grim, grisly, grotesque, horrid, dreadful, terrible

    Derived terms

    * hideosity * hideously * hideousness

    ugly

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Displeasing to the eye; not aesthetically pleasing.
  • * Spenser
    • the ugly view of his deformed crimes
  • * (William Shakespeare)
    • O, I have passed a miserable night, / So full of ugly sights, of ghastly dreams.
  • Displeasing to the ear or some other sense.
  • Offensive]] to one's [[sensibility, sensibilities or morality.
  • *, chapter=12
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. It was ugly , gross. Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion—or rather as a transition from the subject that started their conversation—such talk had been distressingly out of place.}}
  • Ill-natured; crossgrained; quarrelsome.
  • Unpleasant; disagreeable; likely to cause trouble or loss.
    • Related terms
    * (l)

    Synonyms

    * (displeasing to the eye) hideous, homely, repulsive, unattractive, uncomely, unsightly * (displeasing to the ear or some other sense) displeasing, repulsive, unattractive * (sense, offensive to one's sensibilities or morality) corrupt, immoral, vile * See also

    Antonyms

    * (displeasing to the eye) attractive, beautiful, gorgeous, handsome, pretty, sightly * (displeasing to the ear or some other sense) attractive, pleasing * (sense, offensive to one's sensibilities or morality) moral

    Derived terms

    * uggo * ugly duckling * uglification * uglify

    Noun

  • (slang, uncountable) Ugliness.
  • * 2009 : (Lady Gaga) and (RedOne), "(Bad Romance)":
    • I want your ugly / I want your disease.
  • (slang) An ugly person or thing.
  • (UK, informal, dated) A shade for the face, projecting from a bonnet.
    • (Charles Kingsley)
    Luke is the definition of ugly