different between ugly vs gruesome

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 grue (“to shudder”) +? -some. Compare Danish and Norwegian grusom (“horrible”), German grausam (“cruel”), and Dutch gruwzaam (“gruesome; cruel”).

Adjective

gruesome (comparative gruesomer or more gruesome, superlative gruesomest or most gruesome)

1. Repellently frightful and shocking; horrific or ghastly.
   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 6

     In the middle of the floor lay a skeleton, every vestige of flesh gone from the bones to which still clung the mildewed and moldered remnants of what had once been clothing. Upon the bed lay a similar gruesome thing, but smaller, while in a tiny cradle near-by was a third, a wee mite of a skeleton.

Translations