Word
醜い
Meaning in Englishugly
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
醜い means ugly or unattractive in appearance; it is an i-adjective used to describe visual displeasure and can also describe unattractive or morally repellent behavior or character.
Main meanings
- Physical ugliness or lack of aesthetic appeal in people or objects
- Unattractive behavior or character in a figurative sense
- Strong, literary emphasis on ugliness in a scene or description
How to use it
Used in formal and literary contexts as well as everyday speech, though it can be harsh when applied to people; for milder, everyday language see 見苦しい or 汚い in some contexts; common constructions include 醜い顔, 醜い態度. It tends to appear in descriptive writing, criticism, or moral discussions.
Variants and close terms
- 見苦しい (みぐるしい) — synonym; romaji migurushii
- 醜悪 (しゅうあく) — stronger, more literary; romaji shuuaku
- みっともない (みっともない) — socially shameful; romaji mittomonai
- 美しい (うつくしい) — antonym; romaji utsukushii
Composition
- 醜: ugly, disgraceful; combining with い yields 醜い
Etymology
From the kanji 醜 meaning ugly, the word forms by adding the i-adjective suffix to create 醜い; the base is the kun-reading leading to the modern pronunciation minikui.
Word class
adjective (i-adjective)