hideous
/ˈhɪdiəs/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈhɪdiəs/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈhi-dē-əs/ (ame, mw)
hideous — adjective
- hideouspositive
- more hideouscomparative
- most hideoussuperlative
1. so ugly or unpleasant to see, hear, or experience that it makes you want to look
so ugly or unpleasant to see, hear, or experience that it makes you want to look or move away.
Bilal pulled a hideous green sweater out of the box his aunt had mailed him.
attributive: a hideous + noun (clothing/object)
The old riverside factory looked hideous after fifty years of rust and broken windows.
predicative: look + hideous
Hoa thought the new shopping mall was a hideous concrete box that ruined the skyline.
Theo woke up with a hideous bruise covering most of his left cheek.
The wallpaper in the kitchen was a hideous mix of orange flowers and brown stripes.
用法筆記
Frequently attributive before a noun for objects, clothing, decor, or physical marks. Stronger than 'ugly' — implies the speaker finds it almost painful to look at.
常見錯誤
2. so cruel, wrong, or upsetting that it shocks people and makes them feel disgust
so cruel, wrong, or upsetting that it shocks people and makes them feel disgust — used about acts, crimes, or events.
The judge described the attack on the elderly couple as a hideous crime.
collocation: hideous crime / act / atrocity
Folake could not believe her brother had told such a hideous lie about their grandmother.
Reporters slowly uncovered the hideous truth about what had happened inside the camp.
Many neighbours called the killing of the family dog a hideous act of revenge.
Talia stared in silence as the news showed the hideous violence downtown.
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this sense applies to behaviour, events, and statements (crimes, lies, acts, violence), not to physical appearance. Often paired with moral nouns like 'crime', 'act', 'truth', 'lie'.