uglifyv.
/ˈʌɡlᵻfʌɪ/, U.S. /ˈəɡləˌfaɪ/ transitive. To make ugly or repulsive in appearance; to disfigure.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > lack of beauty > disfigurement > disfigure [verb (transitive)]
loathly?c1225
defacec1374
disfigurec1374
emblemishc1384
defoula1387
unhighta1387
disray1431
deform?c1450
foul?c1450
deflower1486
defeata1492
unbeauty1495
deflourisha1513
disform?1520
ungarnish1530
disfashiona1535
disfavour1535
disgrace1549
unbeautify1570
uglify1576
disbeautify1577
dishonest1581
disshape1583
disornament1593
disadorn1598
undeck1598
disvisage1603
unfair1609
untrim1609
debellish1610
disfair1628
discomplexion1640
devenustate1653
disfeature1659
monkeyfy1707
ugly1740
defeature1792
dedecorate1804
scarecrow1853
nastify1873
1576 T. Newton tr. L. Lemnie Touchstone of Complexions ii. iii. 117 It defourmeth and vglyfyeth the skinne wyth dry, skuruye, skalie, mangie, and fylthye eruptions.
1650 N. Ward Discolliminium 46 These derne, dreery, direfull dayes condunghill'd and uglified me into a darke dense lumpe.
1792 F. Burney Let. 18 June in Jrnls. & Lett. (1972) I. 193 She is..completely a Beauty... She uglifies every thing near her.
1834 Tait's Edinb. Mag. New Ser. 1 613/1 When Mr. Luke marvelled at his daughter, disguised and uglified.
1857 N. Hawthorne Jrnl. 7 July in Eng. Notebks. (1997) II. vi. 314 I remember little or nothing of this edifice, except that the Covenanters had uglified it with pews and a gallery, and white-wash.
1898 J. A. Hobson John Ruskin 304 The power exercised by irresponsible wealth..to uglify the outward aspects of life.
Derivatives
ˈuglifying adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > lack of beauty > disfigurement > [adjective] > disfiguring
deformidable1631
disfiguring1775
disfeaturing1813
disfigurative1823
deforming1870
defacing1885
uglifying1886
1886 New Princeton Rev. I. 107 A protest against that uglifying process by which women are coaxed into resignation to old age and death.
Draft additions 1993
ˈuglified adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > lack of beauty > ugliness > [adjective] > made ugly
uglified1961
1961 Daily Tel. 11 Feb. 8/8 (heading) Uglified cities.
1990 Maclean's 14 May 72/1 Across the street from the 18-storey hotel is rising another uglified concrete mass.
ˈuglifier n. one who uglifies or makes ugly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > lack of beauty > ugliness > [noun] > one who makes ugly
uglifier1854
1854 G. A. Sala in Househ. Words 14 Oct. 195/2 I cannot..yield myself up..to the uglifiers—men who have an innate..hatred of every thing in which there is the slightest trace of beauty, symmetry, or fancy.
1931 Observer 27 Sept. 15/3 At the Victoria Palace [theatre]..Mr. Harold Walden belongs to the uglifiers and wears the lethal look beloved of clowns.
1987 N.Y. Times 11 Apr. i. 27/1 If we quit calling their work ‘development’ and called it ‘uglification’, we could call them ‘uglifiers’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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