ugliness

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈʌɡlinəs/ UK /ˈʌɡlinəs/ See IPA manual

noun

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... unsightlinesshideousness repulsivenessunattractivenessgrotesqueness

Opposites

beauty loveliness attractiveness prettiness

Word family

Related forms ugly uglify ugliest

Etymology

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

# 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

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ugliness

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