Forms: 4, 6– ugli- (4, 6–7 vgli-), 4, 7–8 ugly- (5 vgly-); 5 vgg(e)ly-, 7 uggli-; 6 ougly-, 6–7 ougli-, 9 dial. oogli-; also 4–5 -nes, 5–7 -nesse. [f. UGLY a. + -NESS.]
† 1. Horror, dread, loathing: Obs.
c. 1325. Metr. Hom., 21. For folc sal duin for din of se, And for baret that than sal be, Ouer al this werd bes rednes, Wandreth, and uglines.
1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 6832. ‘Þar nan ordre wonand es,’ says he, ‘Bot uglynes [L. horror] þat ever mare sal be.’
a. 1395. Hylton, Scala Perf., I. xxxvii. (W. de W., 1494). Some men he tempteth also and namely solitary men & wymmen by dredes and vglynes, and quakynges and shakynges.
a. 1400. Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS., 43. Whare we sulde hafe vgglynes als vn-till oure body, for to ete flesche, and drynke blude of man, oure Lorde Ihesu Criste turnede his flesche and his blude in liknes of brede and of wyne.
a. 1425. trans. Arderne’s Treat. Fistula, etc., 8. Þof-al I suffre no-þing, vgglynes [L. horror] of suffryng holdeth me.
† b. A cause of horror or loathing. Obs.
1587. Golding, De Mornay, xvi. 294. What an ouglynesse then ought it to be vnto vs, when wee see how men … doe euery howre kill … and roote out one another?
2. The state of being ugly to look at; repulsiveness or marked inelegance of appearance: a. As an abstract quality.
Stronger in earlier than in later use.
c. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 917. Aftir man,… vermyn es, And aftir vermyn stynkand uglynes.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 509/2. Vggelynesse, horribilitas.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., VI. vi. 10. But all her hinder parts did plaine expresse A monstrous Dragon, full of fearefull vglinesse.
1623. Middleton, More Dissemblers, V. ii. 102. A thing whose face, through ugliness, frights children.
1643. Milton, Apol. Smect., Wks. 1851, III. 316. Which to dresse up and garnish with a devis’d bravery … addes nothing but a deform’d uglinesse.
1703. Rowe, Fair Penit., II. 22. You blast the Fair with Lies because they scorn you, Hate you like Age, like Ugliness and Impotence.
1756. Burke, Subl. & B., III. xxi. Though ugliness be the opposite to beauty it is not the opposite to proportion and fitness.
1798. S. & Ht. Lee, Canterb. T., II. 25. Her features had every disadvantage of ugliness, but that of being remarkable.
1820. Keats, Lamia, I. 161. Of all these bereft, Nothing but pain and ugliness were left.
1844. Kinglake, Eöthen, xvii. The awful haggardness that gave something of character to the faces of the men was sheer ugliness in the poor women.
1885–94. R. Bridges, Eros & Psyche, March, v. She was as far From pictured beauty as is ugliness.
b. As a quality of particular things or persons.
c. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 2364. Sen þe devel þus has tane his uglines Of þe filth of syn, þat swa filand es.
c. 1400. Cursor M., 27638 (Cott. Galba). When he wex proud … out of heuyn he fell to hell, And al his vglines he toke Of sin of pride.
1608. Willet, Hexapla Exod., 97. The Egyptians … were … punished … with the number and vglines of them [frogs].
a. 1618. Sylvester, Mem. Mortalitie, iii. Death’s ouglinesse is but imagined; Under foule Vizard a faire Face shee wears.
1658. T. Wall, Charact. Enemies Ch., 31. The ugliness of its [the leopard’s] shape would more affright then the sweetness of its scent allure.
1756. Mrs. Calderwood, in Coltness Collect. (Maitl. Cl.), 193. And what adds to the uglyness of the town is the dirty smoaky look it has.
1826. F. Reynolds, Life & Times, i. 19. I was perfectly startled at his ugliness.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. II. 69. Charles, though he liked her conversation, laughed at her ugliness.
1861. M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 45. High above, the Imperial double eagle figured in all its ugliness, like a scarecrow nailed to a barn door.
c. An instance of this quality; an ugly thing or feature.
1856. Hawthorne, Eng. Note-bks. (1879), I. 313. All full of monstrosities and horrible uglinesses.
3. Moral repulsiveness or offensiveness; disgusting wickedness.
1601. Barlow, Serm. Paules Crosse, B vij b. We, being commanded by authority,… did describe the nature and vglinesse of the rebellion.
1646. Hammond, Death-bed Repent., 66. A consideration of the … detestable uglynesse of sinne.
1684. Contempl. St. Man, I. ix. (1699), 95. The ugliness likewise of Human Nature shall be discovered.
1844. Kinglake, Eöthen, v. A shock of this kind disclosing the ugliness of a cheat, is more … convincing than any mere proofs.
1858. Hawthorne, Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1871), II. 3. I should like to know what it was … that made him insist upon having his actual likeness perpetrated, with all the ugliness of its animal and moral character.
1869. McLaren, Serm., Ser. II. vii. 113. The Bible tells the shameful history in all its naked ugliness.
4. dial. Bad temper; disagreeableness.
1889. Mabel Peacock, Tales, 76. I knaw what he is, when he’s full o’ his ugliness.
