uglies

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of ugly.

   The fairy tale split its cast into radiant beauties and grotesque uglies.

   She filled the margins of her notebook with rows of grinning uglies.

   Note

   Here the y of ugly turns to -ies in the regular way, and the plural counts: one ugly, two uglies. Several countable nouns stand behind it. In slang it is an ugly person or thing. Informally it means awkward goods that will not sit neatly on a pallet. In dated British use it was a shade for the face projecting from a bonnet. Unlike the plural-only word for ugliness, this one takes numbers.

2. 2
   nouncolloquialplural

   The quality or condition of being ugly.

   The cheap remodel left the lobby with a distinct case of the uglies.

   Years of neglect gave the once-grand hotel a thick coat of the uglies.

   Note

   It is plural in form and always takes the, so it behaves like the name of an ailment. That is why it settles so readily into a bad case of the uglies, as if a thing had caught something. Robert Cribb, writing in the Toronto Star in 2009, could diagnose cellphone cases with it. It suits that kind of breezy column. Formal prose would say ugliness or simply unattractive.

3. 3
   verbnonstandard

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of ugly. Nonstandard.

   Cheap construction uglies the whole neighborhood.

   Each new billboard uglies the once-quiet stretch of highway.

   Note

   A verb hides behind the noun's spelling. It means making something ugly, always takes an object, and is often followed by up. Because the verb itself is nonstandard, uglies belongs in casual or playful prose. In careful writing, mars or spoils does the same job without drawing attention to itself.

   The new parking garage uglies up the whole riverfront.

   That cheap chrome trim really uglies up an otherwise handsome car.

4. 4
   nounderogatorycolloquialplural

   A derogatory collectors' term for the postage stamps issued by the feudatory states of India.

   The dealer tossed a bundle of uglies into the discount bin.

   Few serious collectors bothered with uglies until prices began to climb.

   Note

   A collectors' nickname that only ever takes the plural, often with the article and a capital: the Uglies. British collectors have used it, and The Illustrated Weekly of India in 1960 judged it well deserved for many of these distinctively designed stamps. Because it is derogatory, keep it to collectors' banter. In a catalog or formal description, write feudatory-state stamps. When or where the name began remains unclear.

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