Etymologically
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ugly

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈʌɡ.li/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English uglike, ugli, borrowed from Old Norse uggligr (“dreadful, to be feared”),[2][3][4] from uggr (“fear, dread”), perhaps related to agg “strife, hate”, and -ligr (“-like”).[2][3][5] Among words for this idea, ugly is unusual in coming from a root meaning “fear”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Frightful or horrible in appearance: about 1250, as uglike, in Genesis and Exodus.[3][2][6]

Semantic evolution

It once had a stronger meaning than now, frightful or horrible.[7] “Morally offensive, vile” is attested from about 1300.[2][3] The meaning softened to “very unpleasant to look at” by about 1375.[3][2] Threatening danger, as in an ugly situation, is from the 1650s, and ill-tempered from the 1680s.[2] The noun, an ugly person, is from 1755.[2] An ugly duckling is from Hans Christian Andersen's tale, translated into English in 1846, and was used of people by 1877,[2][7] and ugly American from a 1958 book title.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1250 – frightful.[3][6]
  • c. 1300 – morally offensive.[2]
  • c. 1375 – unpleasant to look at.[3]
  • 1650s – threatening.[2]
  • 1877 – ugly duckling.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Unpleasant to look at; not attractive.
  2. Unpleasant or offensive: war is ugly.
  3. Threatening or dangerous: an ugly situation.
  4. Bad-tempered or hostile: an ugly mood.

Word family

  • uglily
  • ugliness
  • superugly
  • uglify
  • plug-ugly
  • ugly American
  • ugly customer

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press