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Antonyms for ugliness


Grammar : Noun
Spell : uhg-lee
Phonetic Transcription : ˈʌg li



Definition of ugliness

Origin :
  • mid-13c., uglike "frightful or horrible in appearance," from Old Norse uggligr "dreadful, fearful," from uggr "fear, apprehension, dread" (perhaps related to agg "strife, hate") + -ligr "-like." Meaning softened to "very unpleasant to look at" late 14c. Extended sense of "morally offensive" is attested from c.1300; that of "ill-tempered" is from 1680s.
  • Among words for this concept, ugly is unusual in being formed from a root for "fear, dread." More common is a compound meaning "ill-shaped" (e.g. Greek dyseides, Latin deformis, Irish dochrud, Sanskrit ku-rupa). Another Germanic group has a root sense of "hate, sorrow" (see loath). Ugly duckling (1877) is from the story by Hans Christian Andersen, first translated from Danish to English 1846. Ugly American "U.S. citizen who behaves offensively abroad" is first recorded 1958 as a book title.
  • noun unattractiveness
  • noun nefariousness
Example sentences :
  • I could not find the words to explain to a man my horror of ugliness.
  • Extract from : « The Bacillus of Beauty » by Harriet Stark
  • Aftervard, v'en beauty is common as ugliness is now—ah, I do not know.
  • Extract from : « The Bacillus of Beauty » by Harriet Stark
  • His embarrassment, or ugliness of temper, or whatever it was, was gone.
  • Extract from : « The Underdog » by F. Hopkinson Smith
  • They were all sorry for me in my misery, and were touched by my ugliness.
  • Extract from : « My Double Life » by Sarah Bernhardt
  • You can devote yourself to the elimination of ugliness, to the increase of beauty.
  • Extract from : « City of Endless Night » by Milo Hastings
  • But what a rich mine of ugliness for the pen of a rising young author like me!
  • Extract from : « The Harbor » by Ernest Poole
  • I remember thinking that, feeling that, and—just for a minute loving my own ugliness.
  • Extract from : « A Spirit in Prison » by Robert Hichens
  • In it one sees only the vices of other races, and the ugliness of other nations.
  • Extract from : « The Book of Khalid » by Ameen Rihani
  • That since beauty is the opposite of ugliness, they are two?
  • Extract from : « The Republic » by Plato
  • I am taught the poorness of our invention, the ugliness of towns and palaces.
  • Extract from : « Essays, Second Series » by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Synonyms for ugliness

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019