Ugly

How to spell ugly

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce ugly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ugly mean?

1. adjectiveUnpleasant or offensive to look at.
2. adjectiveThreatening, hostile, or likely to involve trouble.

Ugly in a sentence

• The old factory was a squat, ugly building of grey concrete.

• The meeting turned ugly once the layoffs were announced.

• She replaced the ugly brown carpet with pale wooden flooring.

• The dispute over the inheritance grew ugly within weeks.

Where does ugly come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This word comes from the Old Norse uggligr, meaning 'dreadful' or 'fearful to look at', which was built on the root uggr, literally 'fear' or 'dread', and the verb ugga, 'to dread'. Norse settlers carried it into northern England, and it surfaced in Middle English around the 1200s, at first describing anything that inspired horror rather than merely something unpleasant to see. Over time the sense softened from 'frightful' to 'unsightly', which is why an ugly thing today simply offends the eye rather than terrifying the heart. The ending -ly here is the ordinary adjective suffix, the same one in 'lovely' and 'friendly', not the adverb -ly, which is a common point of confusion. The spelling keeps a single g, even though the hard sound can tempt writers to double it.

How the word is built

• ugg- (from Old Norse uggr: fear, dread)
• -ly (adjective suffix)