different between ugly vs abominable

English

Alternative forms

• ougly (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English ugly, uggely, uglike, borrowed from Old Norse uggligr (“fearful, dreadful, horrible in appearance”), from uggr (“fear, apprehension, dread”) (possibly related to agg (“strife, hate”)), equivalent to ug +? -ly. Cognate with Scots ugly, uglie, Icelandic ugglegur. Meaning softened to "very unpleasant to look at" around the late 14th century, and sense of "morally offensive" attested from around 1300.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???li/
• Rhymes: -??li

Adjective

ugly (comparative uglier, superlative ugliest)

1. Displeasing to the eye; not aesthetically pleasing.
2. Displeasing to the ear or some other sense.
3. Offensive to one's sensibilities or morality.

4. (Southern US) Ill-natured; crossgrained; quarrelsome.

5. Unpleasant; disagreeable; likely to cause trouble or loss.

Related terms

• ug

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

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

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

ugly (countable and uncountable, plural uglies)

1. (slang, uncountable) Ugliness.
   • 2009: Lady Gaga and RedOne, "Bad Romance":

     I want your ugly / I want your disease.

2. (slang) An ugly person or thing.
3. (Britain, informal, dated) A shade for the face, projecting from a bonnet.
   • 1857, Charles Kingsley, Two Years Ago

     blue uglies

Translations

Verb

ugly (third-person singular simple present uglies, present participle uglying, simple past and past participle uglied)

1. (transitive, nonstandard) To make ugly (sometimes with up).

Anagrams

• guly

English

Etymology

From Middle English abhomynable, from Old French abominable, from Late Latin ab?min?bilis (“deserving abhorrence”), from ab?minor (“abhor, deprecate as an ill omen”), from ab (“from, away from”) + ?minor (“forebode, predict, presage”), from ?men (“sign, token, omen”). Formerly erroneously folk-etymologized as deriving from Latin ab- + homo and therefore spelled abhominable, abhominal; see those entries for more.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??b?m.?.n?.bl?/, /??b?m.n?.bl?/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /??b?m.?.n?.b?/

Adjective

abominable (comparative more abominable, superlative most abominable)

1. Worthy of, or causing, abhorrence, as a thing of evil omen; odious in the utmost degree; very hateful; detestable; loathsome; execrable. [first attested around 1150 to 1350]
2. (obsolete) Excessive, large (used as an intensifier).
3. Very bad or inferior.
4. Disagreeable or unpleasant. [First attested in the late 19^th century.]

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "abominable" is often applied: man, woman, crime, act, deed, sin, vice, character, place, mystery, treatment, church, bride, snowman.

Alternative forms

• abhominable (obsolete, based on folk etymology), abhominal (obsolete, based on folk etymology)

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• ? Norwegian Bokmål: abominabel

Translations

References

• abominable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• abominable in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• abominable at OneLook Dictionary Search

Catalan

Etymology

From Late Latin ab?min?bilis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /?.bo.mi?na.bl?/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?.bu.mi?na.bl?/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /a.bo.mi?na.ble/
• Rhymes: -a?le

Adjective

abominable (masculine and feminine plural abominables)

1. abominable

Derived terms

• abominablement

Related terms

• abominar
• abominació

French

Etymology

From Late Latin ab?min?bilis (“abominable, detestable”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.b?.mi.nabl/
• Homophone: abominables

Adjective

abominable (plural abominables)

1. Absolutely loathsome; abominable.
2. Exceedingly bad or ugly; abominable.

Synonyms

• Most terms of the second category also have literal meanings closer to that of the first, but are now less common in these uses, as well as marking actions that are not as markedly odious.
• (loathsome): odieux, méprisable, ignoble, sacrilège (religious), impie (religious)
• (exceedingly bad or ugly): laid, détestable, exécrable, horrible

Derived terms

• abominable homme des neiges
• abominablement

Further reading

• “abominable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Galician

Alternative forms

• abominábel

Etymology

From Late Latin ab?min?bilis.

Adjective

abominable m or f (plural abominables)

1. abominable

Related terms

• abominación
• abominar

Further reading

• “abominable” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Middle English

Adjective

abominable

1. Alternative form of abhomynable

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ab?m??n??bl?/
• Rhymes: -??bl?
• Hyphenation: a?bo?mi?na?ble

Adjective

abominable

1. definite singular of abominabel
2. plural of abominabel

Spanish

Etymology

From Late Latin ab?min?bilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /abomi?nable/, [a.??o.mi?na.??le]

Adjective

abominable (plural abominables)

1. abominable

Derived terms

Related terms

• abominar
• abominado

Further reading

• “abominable” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.