The word ugly is commonly used across cultures to describe appearance, behavior, or situations that feel unpleasant or unattractive, and therefore understanding ugly in different languages helps learners, writers, and translators express emotions more accurately.
Moreover, since beauty standards and expressions vary worldwide, learning how to say ugly in different languages also reveals cultural differences in tone and usage.
As a result, this article presents ugly translations around the world using clear native phrases and real example sentences, making the meaning practical, natural, and easy to understand.
| Language | Native Phrase | Native Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| English | Ugly | That building looks ugly. |
| Spanish | Feo | Ese edificio es feo. |
| French | Laid | Ce bâtiment est laid. |
| German | Hässlich | Dieses Haus ist hässlich. |
| Italian | Brutto | Quel posto è brutto. |
| Portuguese | Feio | O clima ficou feio hoje. |
| Dutch | Lelijk | Dat schilderij is lelijk. |
| Swedish | Ful | Det där är verkligen fult. |
| Norwegian | Stygg | Det er en stygg bygning. |
| Danish | Grim | Det er et grimt hus. |
| Finnish | Ruma | Tämä paikka on ruma. |
| Russian | Уродливый | Это здание уродливое. |
| Ukrainian | Потворний | Це потворне місце. |
| Polish | Brzydki | To jest brzydki widok. |
| Czech | Ošklivý | Ten dům je ošklivý. |
| Slovak | Škaredý | Tá budova je škaredá. |
| Hungarian | Csúnya | Ez egy csúnya hely. |
| Romanian | Urât | Este un oraș urât. |
| Bulgarian | Грозен | Това е грозно място. |
| Greek | Άσχημος | Αυτό το κτίριο είναι άσχημο. |
| Turkish | Çirkin | Bu bina çok çirkin. |
| Arabic | قبيح | هذا منظر قبيح. |
| Hebrew | מכוער | הבניין הזה מכוער. |
| Persian | زشت | این منظره زشت است. |
| Hindi | बदसूरत | यह जगह बदसूरत है। |
| Urdu | بدصورت | یہ جگہ بدصورت ہے۔ |
| Bengali | কুৎসিত | জায়গাটি কুৎসিত। |
| Punjabi | ਭੱਦਾ | ਇਹ ਥਾਂ ਭੱਦੀ ਹੈ। |
| Tamil | அருவருப்பான | அந்த இடம் அருவருப்பானது. |
| Telugu | అగ్లీ | ఆ భవనం అగ్లీగా ఉంది. |
| Marathi | कुरूप | ते दृश्य कुरूप आहे. |
| Gujarati | ભદ્દું | આ જગ્યા ભદ્દી છે. |
| Kannada | ಕೆಟ್ಟ | ಆ ಮನೆ ಕೆಟ್ಟಾಗಿದೆ. |
| Malayalam | വൃത്തികെട്ട | ആ കെട്ടിടം വൃത്തികെട്ടതാണ്. |
| Sinhala | අස්වභාවික | එය අස්වභාවිකයි. |
| Thai | น่าเกลียด | อาคารนั้นน่าเกลียด |
| Vietnamese | Xấu | Cảnh này rất xấu. |
| Indonesian | Jelek | Tempat ini jelek. |
| Malay | Buruk | Pemandangan ini buruk. |
| Filipino | Pangit | Pangit ang gusali. |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 丑 | 这栋楼很丑。 |
| Japanese | 醜い | その建物は醜い。 |
| Korean | 못생긴 | 그 건물은 못생겼다. |
| Mongolian | Муухай | Энэ барилга муухай. |
| Nepali | कुरूप | यो ठाउँ कुरूप छ। |
| Swahili | Mbaya | Jengo hilo ni baya. |
| Zulu | Mbi | Lesi sakhiwo sibi. |
| Afrikaans | Lelik | Daardie huis is lelik. |
| Hausa | Mummuna | Wurin nan mummuna ne. |
| Yoruba | Burúkú | Ilé yìí burúkú. |
| Igbo | Jọgburu | Ebe a jọgburu. |
| Amharic | አስጸያፊ | ይህ ቦታ አስጸያፊ ነው። |
| Somali | Foolxun | Meeshani waa foolxun. |
| Icelandic | Ljótur | Þetta hús er ljótt. |
| Irish | Gránna | Tá an áit seo gránna. |
| Welsh | Hyll | Mae’r adeilad yn hyll. |
| Basque | Itsusi | Eraikina itsusia da. |
| Catalan | Lleig | Aquest edifici és lleig. |
| Galician | Feo | O lugar é feo. |
| Esperanto | Malbela | Tiu loko estas malbela. |
| Latvian | Neglīts | Šī vieta ir neglīta. |
| Lithuanian | Bjaurus | Šis vaizdas bjaurus. |
| Estonian | Inetu | See koht on inetu. |
| Slovenian | Grd | Ta stavba je grda. |
| Croatian | Ružan | Ovaj pogled je ružan. |
| Serbian | Ружан | Овај призор је ружан. |
| Albanian | I shëmtuar | Ky vend është i shëmtuar. |
| Armenian | Տգեղ | Այս շենքը տգեղ է։ |
| Georgian | მახინჯი | ეს შენობა მახინჯია. |
| Kazakh | Ұсқынсыз | Бұл жер ұсқынсыз. |
| Uzbek | Xunuk | Bu bino xunuk. |
| Pashto | بدرنګ | دا ځای بدرنګ دی. |
| Kurdish | Şirret | Ev şirret e. |
| Maori | Kino | He kino tēnei whare. |
| Hawaiian | ʻIno | He ʻino kēia wahi. |
How the Meaning of Ugly Changes by Culture
Although ugly often refers to appearance, many cultures also use it metaphorically to describe bad situations, behavior, or emotions.
When Is Ugly Used in Daily Conversation?
Ugly is commonly used in casual speech, storytelling, criticism, and emotional expression, though tone and politeness vary by language.
Why Learn Ugly in Different Languages?
Learning negative adjectives improves emotional expression and helps avoid misunderstanding in real conversations and translations.
FAQs
Is ugly always offensive?
Not always, but tone and context matter greatly.
Do some languages soften the word ugly?
Yes, many cultures use milder alternatives.
Is ugly used metaphorically?
Yes, it often describes situations or moods.
Can ugly describe behavior?
In many languages, yes.
Is ugly common in daily speech?
Yes, especially informally.
FINAL THOUGHT
Learning how to say ugly in different languages strengthens emotional vocabulary and cultural awareness.
Although the word can sound harsh, understanding its proper use helps speakers communicate honestly while respecting cultural nuance, making conversations clearer and more authentic worldwide.

Foster Hollis is a language and culture writer with a strong interest in how people communicate across borders. At Lingonast, he focuses on cultural insights and language based articles that help readers understand global traditions in a simple, engaging way.