1
as in ugly
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
the hideous way in which she treated her maid after she discovered her ring was missing
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in gruesome
extremely disturbing or repellent
a hideous crime that could not be fully described in the newspapers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in grotesque
unpleasant to look at
wearing a hideous Halloween mask that made the kids all jump with fright
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hideous
At dinnertime, the restaurant is busy, but not slammed; the crowd seems to be largely made up of people with beautiful hair and compellingly hideous shoes.
—
Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2025
Within the span of a few days, an innocuous speck can turn a loaf of bread from prime sandwich material into a hideous mass of blue-green fuzz—an appetite-killing sight if ever there was one.
—Caroline Tien, SELF, 1 May 2025
The Imperial City Sewers you’re meant to traverse while learning the basics of the game look hideous and vile.
—Jamal Michel, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
In each of these films, cruelty commingles with tenderness, and hideous acts take place against backdrops of often stunning natural beauty.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hideous
Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2025
Within the span of a few days, an innocuous speck can turn a loaf of bread from prime sandwich material into a hideous mass of blue-green fuzz—an appetite-killing sight if ever there was one.
—Caroline Tien, SELF, 1 May 2025
The Imperial City Sewers you’re meant to traverse while learning the basics of the game look hideous and vile.
—Jamal Michel, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
In each of these films, cruelty commingles with tenderness, and hideous acts take place against backdrops of often stunning natural beauty.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hideous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hideous
Adjective
-
Tech wealth here looks even less appealing than that of the Roy family (the expensively beige décor is even uglier).—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
4 June 2025
-
During the negotiation of USMCA in 2018, the current trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada that Trump managed during his first term, conversations between the President and GM occasionally turned ugly.—
Jackie Charniga,
USA Today,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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The gruesome recovery comes in the wake of a gruesome February incident, when a body was found inside a suitcase floating in the East River.—
Nicholas Williams,
New York Daily News,
27 May 2025
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Larvae of the parasitic fly chew through flesh, transforming small nicks into big, gruesome wounds.—
Sarah Zhang,
The Atlantic,
27 May 2025
Adjective
-
The gore may have felt too grotesque to shoot in live action using makeup and prosthetics, and potentially unbearable for some audiences to watch.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
6 June 2025
-
If, like for me, Lewis Carroll’s 1865 fairy tale about a girl who stumbles into Wonderland is a core memory, all those beloved characters are there, with a splendidly cogent (and at times delightfully grotesque) libretto.—
Lauren Warnecke,
Chicago Tribune,
6 June 2025
Adjective
-
Conrad wraps the conversation by being incredibly disgusting about Bella’s nether regions.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
1 June 2025
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For the next 200 years, snails only appeared in Parisian cookbooks alongside an apology for including such a disgusting ingredient.—
Garritt C. Van Dyk,
Smithsonian Magazine,
29 May 2025
Adjective
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The war has carried a horrific toll for Gazans, with many dead amid the fighting and whole neighborhoods razed to the ground.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 May 2025
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Instead of just ending on that horrific moment, the show then cuts to Abby several days earlier.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2025
Adjective
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Smears on non-sensor areas of the tiara are like bug debris on your hood, aesthetically unpleasing but not harmful.—
Eric Tegler,
Popular Mechanics,
1 Oct. 2019
-
His side's inability to finish off the game against Burnley on the other hand was very unpleasing.—
SI.com,
SI.com,
1 Feb. 2018
Adjective
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Over the 18 games following a 21-run eruption against the historically awful Colorado Rockies, the Padres ranked last in the majors in OPS and third-to-last in runs per game.—
Dennis Lin,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
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The timing isn’t awful for SDFC, which doesn’t play its next league game until June 14 and expected Lozano to be absent possibly into early July on national-team duty.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 May 2025
Adjective
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Even with the horrible start the Red Sox still nearly came all the way back, twice drawing to within one run, but the club couldn’t get over the hump.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
3 June 2025
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We were made aware of this horrible activity by Priscilla Olivarez from ILRC, at our annual conference Convening 2025, held in San Antonio.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hideous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hideous. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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