Adjacent Words

Hideous definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HID'EOUS, a.
1. Frightful to the sight; dreadful; shocking to the eye; applied to deformity; as a hideous monster; a hideous spectacle; hideous looks.
2. Shocking to the ear; exciting terror; as a hideous noise.
3. Detestable.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: grossly offensive to decency or morality; causing horror; "subjected to outrageous cruelty"; "a hideous pattern of injustice"; "horrific conditions in the mining industry" [syn: hideous, horrid, horrific, outrageous]
2: so extremely ugly as to be terrifying; "a hideous scar"; "a repulsive mask" [syn: hideous, repulsive]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: alteration of Middle English hidous, from Anglo-French hidus, hisdos, from Old French hisde, hide terror Date: 14th century 1. offensive to the senses and especially to sight ; exceedingly ugly 2. morally offensive ; shocking • hideosity noun • hideously adverb • hideousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 frightful, repulsive, or revolting, to the senses or the mind (a hideous monster; a hideous pattern). 2 colloq. unpleasant. Derivatives: hideously adv. hideousness n. Etymology: ME hidous f. AF hidous, OF hidos, -eus, f. OF hide, hisde fear, of unkn. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hideous Hid"e*ous (?; 277), a. [OE. hidous, OF. hidous, hidos, hidus, hisdos, hisdous, F. hideux: cf. OF. hide, hisde, fright; of uncertain origin; cf. OHG. egid[=i] horror, or L. hispidosus, for hispidus rough, bristly, E. hispid.] 1. Frightful, shocking, or offensive to the eyes; dreadful to behold; as, a hideous monster; hideous looks. ``A piteous and hideous spectacle.'' --Macaulay. 2. Distressing or offensive to the ear; exciting terror or dismay; as, a hideous noise. ``Hideous cries.'' --Shak. 3. Hateful; shocking. ``Sure, you have some hideous matter to deliver.'' --Shak. Syn: Frightful; ghastly; grim; grisly; horrid; dreadful; terrible. -- Hid"e*ous*ly, adv. -- Hid"e*ous*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you say that someone or something is hideous, you mean that they are very ugly or unattractive. She saw a hideous face at the window and screamed. = monstrous, horrible ADJ 2. You can describe an event, experience, or action as hideous when you mean that it is very unpleasant, painful, or difficult to bear. His family was subjected to a hideous attack by the gang... = horrendous ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Frightful, dreadful, appalling, terrible, horrible, horrid, ghastly, grisly, grim, shocking.

Moby Thesaurus

abhorrent, abominable, appalling, astounding, atrocious, awe-inspiring, awesome, awful, baneful, beastly, contemptible, damnable, dire, direful, disgusting, dread, dreaded, dreadful, exceptionable, execrable, fell, forbidding, formidable, foul, frightful, ghastly, ghoulish, grim, grisly, grotesque, gruesome, hateful, heinous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, horrifying, ill-favored, ill-looking, inadmissible, loathsome, lurid, macabre, monstrous, morbid, nasty, nauseating, nauseous, odious, offensive, outrageous, redoubtable, repellent, repelling, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, rotten, schrecklich, shocking, sickening, terrible, terrific, terrifying, tragic, tremendous, ugly, unacceptable, unbeautiful, uncomely, undesirable, unsightly, unspeakable, unwanted, unwelcome, vile