hideous
/ˈhɪd.i.əs/ adjective
- adjective Extremely or shockingly ugly. “I’m sorry to break it to you, but your dress looks truly hideous.”
- adjective Having a very unpleasant or frightening sound.
- adjective Hateful; shocking.
- adjective Morally offensive; shocking; detestable.
Synonyms
frightful ghastly grim grisly grotesque horrid dreadful terrible horrific outrageous repulsive
Etymology
From Middle English hidous, from Anglo-Norman hidous, from Old French hideus, hydus (“that which inspires terror”), from earlier hisdos, from Old French hisda (“horror, fear”), of uncertain and disputed origin. Probably from Proto-West Germanic *agisiþu (“horror, terror”), from Proto-West Germanic *agisōn (“to frighten, terrorise”), from Proto-Germanic *agaz (“terror, fear”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʰ- (“to frighten”). Cognate with Old High German egisa, egidī (“horror”), Old English egesa (“fear, dread”), Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌹𐍃 (agis, “fear, terror”).
Alternative etymology cites possible derivation from Latin hispidosus (“rugged”), from hispidus (“rough, bristly”), yet the semantic evolution is less plausible.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Frightful, shocking, or offensive to the eyes; dreadful to behold; as, a hideous monster; hideous looks. "A piteous and hideous spectacle." Macaulay.
- adjective Distressing or offensive to the ear; exciting terror or dismay; as, a hideous noise. "Hideous cries." Shak.
Etymology [OE. hidous, OF. hidous, hidos, hidus, hisdos, hisdous, F. hideux: cf. OF. hide, hisde, fright; of uncertain origin; cf. OHG. egidi horror, or L. hispidosus, for hispidus rough, bristly, E. hispid.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “hideous”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details