ugliness C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /ˈʌɡlinəs/ UK /ˈʌɡlinəs/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the quality of being unpleasant or repulsive in appearance The mural's beauty was meant to redeem the ugliness of the wall. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the quality of being... unsightlinesshideousnessrepulsivenessunattractivenessgrotesqueness ↔ Opposites beautylovelinessattractivenessprettiness Word family Related forms uglyuglifyugliest Etymology AI details From ugly + -ness. Ugly comes from Middle English ugli, uglike, borrowed from Old Norse uggligr ('dreadful, fearful'), from uggr ('fear') + -ligr ('-ly'). uggligr Old Norse uggr Old Norse View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # ugliness **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈʌɡlinəs/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈʌɡlinəs/ ## Meanings 1. the quality of being unpleasant or repulsive in appearance ## Examples - The mural's beauty was meant to redeem the ugliness of the wall. ## Synonyms - unsightliness - hideousness - repulsiveness - unattractiveness - grotesqueness ## Antonyms - beauty - loveliness - attractiveness - prettiness ## Related Forms - ugly - uglify - ugliest ## Roots and Affixes - Root: uggligr - Root: uggr ## Etymology From ugly + -ness. Ugly comes from Middle English ugli, uglike, borrowed from Old Norse uggligr ('dreadful, fearful'), from uggr ('fear') + -ligr ('-ly'). ## AI Etymology Ugliness is from ugly + -ness. Ugly comes from Middle English ugli, uglike, borrowed from Old Norse uggligr ('dreadful, fearful'), from uggr ('fear') + -ligr ('-ly'). Important recorded forms include uggligr (Old Norse) and uggr (Old Norse). Morphologically, the native -ness suffix turns an adjective or quality word into an abstract noun naming the state or condition. The modern sense is largely compositional, with the historical elements narrowing into a stable English lexical item. In current use it covers the quality of being unpleasant or repulsive in appearance. The wider family includes related words such as ugly, uglify, and ugliest. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown