From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishuglyug‧ly /ˈʌɡli/ ●●● S3 adjective (comparative uglier, superlative ugliest) 1 UGLYextremely unattractive and unpleasant to look at SYN hideous OPP beautiful a very ugly man the ugliest building in town Nick’s dog is as ugly as sin (=very ugly).2 FRIGHTENEDused to describe a situation which is very bad or violent, and which makes you feel frightened or threatened There were ugly scenes as rival gangs started attacking each other. an ugly incident3 ugly ideas, feelings, remarks etc are unpleasant Jealousy is an ugly emotion. ugly rumors4 → ugly duckling —ugliness noun [uncountable]THESAURUSugly very unpleasant to look at – used about people, objects, and buildingsShe thinks she's ugly but she's not.an ugly block of flatscheap ugly furnitureunattractive not pleasant to look at. Unattractive sounds more formal and less strong than uglyan unattractive modern town which was built during the 1960sWomen found him unattractive.unsightly formal not pleasant to look at, and spoiling the appearance of somethingUnsightly red spots started to appear on her face.The windows have been blocked off with unsightly metal bars. extremely uglyhideous extremely uglyHis hideous face twisted into a smile.a hideous concrete shopping centrea hideous monsterrepulsive extremely ugly, especially in a way that makes you want to look awayHis appearance was so repulsive he had to wear a mask.grotesque extremely ugly in a strange or unnatural wayA grotesque figure appeared out of the darkness.an eyesore (also a blot on the landscape) noun [singular] something that is so ugly that it spoils the appearance of an areaLocal residents regard the new office building as an eyesore.I think wind turbines are a blot on the landscape - why can't people just use less electricity?
Examples from the Corpus
ugly• It was on Sunday that the scenes turned ugly.• Where there were sentimental witnesses the old, the ugly and the inept always came out best.• an ugly chair• Or how about the faint chirp prodding you to invent an ugly doll with a hankering for tickles?• They're in an ugly fight over who will get the children.• The room was bare except for a few pieces of ugly furniture• An ugly little man came over and offered to buy me a drink.• I glanced down to see that a well-aimed egg had turned my blouse into an ugly mess.• For an ugly moment I had been convinced she had guessed the real reason for my avid professional interest in Bill Francis.• That's a really ugly picture of me.• Not long afterwards, ugly rumours began to circulate.• Use very small stitches to suture, otherwise an ugly scar may result.• We hated our uncle. He was fat and ugly, with tiny eyes and a long, pointed nose.ugly scenes• But Aspinall's goal sparked ugly scenes.• There were a number of ugly scenes behind the Southend goal before police stepped in.• Any photographer that caught their eye were pushed away with threats, and ugly scenes between these rioters and other protestors ensued.• It was the third time in three weeks that such ugly scenes had been witnessed at London grounds.• But there were more ugly scenes last night.• The ugly scenes scared the holiday crowds away.• Police were anxious to avoid the ugly scenes when the two boys made their first appearance in court nine days ago.Origin ugly (1200-1300) Old Norse uggligr “frightening”, from uggr “fear” 