beauteous

en-adj

beauteous (comparative more beauteous, superlative most beauteous)

more beauteous (comparative)
most beauteous (superlative)

From Middle English beautevous, bewteose, beautuous, boyteous, beuteus, beuteowse, bewtyvows, equivalent to beauty + -ous and/or beauty + -eous.

VVhy didſt thou promiſe ſuch a beautious day,
 And make me trauaile forth without my cloake,
 To let bace cloudes ore-take me in my way,
 Hiding thy brau'ry in their rotten ſmoke.

1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 34”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

O wonder! / How many goodly creatures are there heere? / How beauteous mankinde is? O braue new world / That has ſuch people in't.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 17, column 2:

Let Prudence yet obſtruct thy venturous way; / And take good heed, what men will think and ſay: / That beauteous Emma vagrant courſes took; / Her father's houſe and civil life forſook; / That, full of youthful blood, and fond of man; / She to the wood-land with an exile ran.

1709, Matthew Prior, “Henry and Emma. […]”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior […], volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan, […], published 1779, →OCLC, page 246:


scraggly

scraggly (comparative scragglier, superlative scraggliest)

scragglier (comparative)
scraggliest (superlative)

As if from a verb *scraggle (in turn from scrag). Equivalent to scrag + -le + -ly.

The sunburn of my face, what little of it could be seen through a scraggly growth of beard, had faded to a sickly yellow.

1913 August, Jack London, chapter XXXI, in John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 280:

Faintly from the street scraggly children's voices singing a yule song. Miss Tomson going to the window.
"Hey come here Mr Smith look at this, isn't that sweet, group of urchins, they're singing."

1963, J P Donleavy, A Singular Man, published 1963 (USA), page 24:

What he painted was scenes of the Old West, cowboys and Indians, cattle and horses. Pictures scraggly with sagebrush.

1980 November 24, John Skow, “In Arizona: A Million Dollar Sale of Cowboy Art”, in Time:


attractivity

en-noun

attractivity (countable and uncountable, plural attractivities)

1841, Zoé de Gatti de Gamond [authoress of French original; English translator unknown], The Phalanstery; or, Attractive Industry and Moral Harmony, introduction, page xxiii
This voice, this unity, is the true attractivity which is to redeem man.

The quality or degree of attractive power or influence.


beautifulness

beautifulness (usually uncountable, plural beautifulnesses)


glowing

en-adj

glowing (comparative more glowing, superlative most glowing)

more glowing (comparative)
most glowing (superlative)

He received glowing references from his previous employers.

But beyond the quantitative imbalance, the researchers identified significant qualitative biases favoring Russia in the course descriptions. They looked for “superlatives” like “masterpiece,” “genius” and “great” used to describe Russian literature and culture. About 31% of Russian literature course descriptions contained such glowing language, compared to only 11% for non-Russian literature.

2023 December 29, Orysia Hrudka, “US academia still in thrall of “great Russia” myth”, in Euromaidan Press:


golden girl

In her day, Betty Grable was the golden girl of America.

A young woman who is beautiful in a wholesome and healthy way.


beldame

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From late (1400–1450) Middle English bel (“good”), from Old French bel (“beautiful”) + Latin bellus + dam (“mother”), Middle English dame.

Justice is an old hobbling beldame, and I can't get her to keep pace with Generosity, for the soul of me.

1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, IV.i:

[…] have a curiosity to hear my fortune told: therefore, Sam, order the beldame forward.

1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC:

The tablets upon which the events of the day were recorded refer to enchantresses, and we can conclude that they were by no means restricted to ancient beldames.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 25:

Suddenly the beldam shrieks as if she's been stuck with a dagger, long rasping insuck of breath: ‘Eeeeeeeee!’

1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 6:

(now archaic) An old woman, particularly an ugly one.


aestheticism

en-noun

aestheticism (countable and uncountable, plural aestheticisms)

He went over his canvases with disgust and anger, unable to see virtue in any one of them. Even his sacred Oyster Girl went back on him. The creature of a vitiated æstheticism, he could only suppose that conceit had played an abominable trick on his eyesight.

1938, Norman Lindsay, chapter XIII, in Age of Consent, London: T[homas] Werner Laurie […], →OCLC, page 133:

Born the most sensitive of children into an unhappy family that misreared and misschooled him, Rilke recoiled into introspectiveness and dilletante^([sic]) aestheticism, and long remained there; the world, or outwardness, was what had hurt him, was the enemy.

A doctrine which holds aesthetics or beauty as the highest ideal or most basic standard.

esteticisme

doctrine which holds aesthetics as the highest ideal


uglify

en-verb

uglify (third-person singular simple present uglifies, present participle uglifying, simple past and past participle uglified)

uglifies (present singular third-person)
uglifying (participle present)
uglified (participle past)
uglified (past)

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From ugly + -fy. Sense 3 by analogy with prettify.

She uglifies every thing near her.

1792, Frances Burney, Journals and Letters, Penguin, published 2001, page 345:

(transitive) To make ugly; to destroy or worsen the appearance or attractiveness of.


baby-faced

en-adj

baby-faced (comparative more baby-faced, superlative most baby-faced)

more baby-faced (comparative)
most baby-faced (superlative)

Michelle was of the opinion that all the best con artists were baby-faced, since that inspires trust in others.

Having a face that appears childlike, innocent, or youthful.


eyeful

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-eyeful.wav

(sometimes ironic) A remarkable sight or a very attractive person.

We pulled our heavy overcoats tightly around us, shivering, and put our heads down as the din of fighting stopped for a while to grab an eyeful of sleep.

2021, Will Fey, Armor Battles of the Waffen-SS: 1943–45, page 272:

(informal) A brief period of sleep; forty winks.


eyeful

eyeful (comparative more eyeful, superlative most eyeful)

more eyeful (comparative)
most eyeful (superlative)

With this, he hung them up aloft, upon a tamrick bough, As eyeful trophies [...]

Filling or attractive to the eye; visible; remarkable.


prettification

en-noun

prettification (countable and uncountable, plural prettifications)

(colloquial) The act of making someone or something pretty.


clean up

en-verb

clean up (third-person singular simple present cleans up, present participle cleaning up, simple past and past participle cleaned up)

cleans up (present singular third-person)
cleaning up (participle present)
cleaned up (participle past)
cleaned up (past)

He sure cleans up nice.

(intransitive, idiomatic, colloquial) To become clean, handsome, smart in appearance, e.g. for a special occasion, especially when it is out of character to be seen as such.


prettily

en-adv

prettily (comparative more prettily, superlative most prettily)

more prettily (comparative)
most prettily (superlative)

From Middle English pratily, prately, pratyly, pratylych; equivalent to pretty + -ly.

And thus they were all begging for pancakes, the one more prettily than the other, because they were so hungry, and such good little children.

1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “The Pancake”, in H. L. Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 62:

St. Lawrence Station is very prettily situated, high cliffs on the left, and the lush vegetation of the Undercliff sloping down to the sea on the right.

1946 July and August, K. Westcott Jones, “Isle of Wight Central Railway—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 244:

The air was clear and scented, the breeze flitted lightly through the tall grass around his cave, the birds were chirruping at each other, the butterflies were flitting about prettily, and the whole of nature seemed to be conspiring to be as pleasant as it possibly could.

1982 August, Douglas Adams, chapter 2, in Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; 3), London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 12:


sex appeal

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He may be as thick as a plank, but he sure has some sex appeal.

But when she goes on to remark that “it is the height of folly to say that woman, who has been taught by the uncounted ages that her strongest hold on man is because of her sex, can throw off or disregard the knowledge that her sex appeal is the strongest weapon she has” then I am appalled at the extreme illogic of the lady!

1913 May 15, Elizabeth Newport Hepburn, quoting Josephine Jewell Dodge, “A Question Not of Sex Appeal; But of Prevailing Mode.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Samara: She impresses with sophistication and sex appeal. Then she strikes. The hunt interests her as much as the conquest.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Omega (Samara: The Ardat-Yakshi):


easy on the eyes

en-adj

easy on the eyes (comparative more easy on the eyes, superlative most easy on the eyes)

more easy on the eyes (comparative)
most easy on the eyes (superlative)

Truly was this maiden, as his Chamberlain had said, noticeably easy on the eyes. Her beauty was as water in the desert, as fire on a frosty night, as diamonds, rubies, pearls, sapphires, and amethysts.

1922, P. G. Wodehouse, “The Coming of Gowf”, in The Clicking of Cuthbert:

Those lovers, played by Vincent Perez and Rachel Weisz, are certainly easy on the eyes, but their romantic chemistry is tentative at best.

1998 Jan. 23, Stephen Holden, "Ukrainian Patient: A Romance In the Rain" (film review of Swept from the Sea), New York Times (retrieved 2 Oct 2013)

(idiomatic) Physically attractive; beautiful.


slovenliness

en-noun

slovenliness (countable and uncountable, plural slovenlinesses)

(uncountable) The state or quality of being slovenly.

(countable) The result or product of being slovenly.


hourglass figure

hourglass figure (plural hourglass figures)

A human body shape resembling an hourglass, i.e. with a very narrow waist and wide bust and hips.

тънка талия

a human body shape resembling an hourglass


birth control glasses

(plural only, US, military slang) The brown-framed prescription eyeglasses issued to new recruits in the U.S. military, and perceived as notoriously unattractive.


sightly

en-adj

sightly (comparative sightlier, superlative sightliest)

sightlier (comparative)
sightliest (superlative)

From Middle English sightlye, equivalent to sight + -ly. Cognate with German sichtlich (“visible”).

Many brave, sightly horses.

1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:

Harry's sightly—yes, he's as sightly as the tallest pine of the mountains, and the Sarpent has named him accordingly; however, some fancy good looks, and some fancy good conduct, only.

1841, James Fenimore Cooper, The Deerslayer:

'Your face -ain't sightly,' said Ole Pa.

Attractive, pleasing to the eye; affording gratification to the sense of sight; aesthetically pleasing.


UMOC

(US university and university slang) Initialism of ugly man on campus.


clean-cut

clean-cut (comparative more clean-cut, superlative most clean-cut)

more clean-cut (comparative)
most clean-cut (superlative)

Apparently from the idea of being smoothly shaped and thus the opposite of “rough” or “coarse”.

I fell down / To my bended knees, / Saying, "I dig farmers, / Don't shoot me, please!" / He cocked his rifle / And began to shout, / "You're that travelin' salesman / That I have heard about." / I said, "No! No! No! / I'm a doctor and it's true, / I'm a clean-cut kid / And I been to college, too."

1964, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Motorpsycho Nitemare”, in Another Side of Bob Dylan:

Of the fifty or so people present, most were clean-cut men in their twenties or thirties. Dalio sat down near the front of the room.

2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN:

here’s something a little too perfect about Dan Stevens. Even when he’s not literally playing a Disney prince, he looks like one: poised, chiseled, giving off a clean-cut aura no matter his state of grooming.

2021 September 16, A. A. Dowd, “Dan Stevens as a dashing robot lover? That computes”, in AV Club:


beauty is only skin deep

First use appears c. 1809, although beauty is but skin-deep appears much earlier.

"Handsome those that handsome do say I; beauty is only skin deep; it is the principle of the heart I consider.

1809, Francis Lathom, London, Or, Truth Without Treason, A Novel, page 2:

And she graced the transition. Beauty is only skin-deep, but the nerves lie very near to the skin. Nerve—but just here will you oblige by perusing again the quotation with which this story begins?

1910, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Girl and the Habit”, in Strictly Business:

Isn’t it time the marketing budgets were reapportioned to the bones and muscles of the building themselves? At present, the beauty in London’s building boom is barely skin deep.

2014 September 25, Hugo Macdonald, “Could those utopian hoardings for new developments get any more nauseating?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

A person's character matters more than their appearance.

الجمال جمال الروح

a person's character is more important than their outward appearance

laksana bunga dadap, sungguh merah berbau tidak

más peaca bheith buí tá na mílte damanta

ní hí an bhreáthacht a bhruitheann na prátaí

美人というも皮一重

びじん と いう も かわ ひとえ

laksana buah dedap, sungguh merah berbau tidak

buah masak merah belum tentu manis rasanya


cutely

en-adv

cutely (comparative more cutely, superlative most cutely)

more cutely (comparative)
most cutely (superlative)


cuteness

en-noun

cuteness (countable and uncountable, plural cutenesses)

The craving for cuteness is a psychological phenomenon that originally had the purpose of increasing the chances of a baby to survive […]

2007, Christine Locher, The Cult of Cuteness in Japanese Youth Culture, page 13:

The state of being cute (endearingly attractive).


laughter lines

Especially visible when smiling or laughing.

She wanted to hear his man's voice and see the laughter-lines come and go round his eyes.

Wrinkles at the outer corners of the eye.

A fat, orbicular and jolly soul / With laughter-lines upon each rosy jowl

1903, Ambrose Bierce, “The Saint and the Monk”, in Shapes of Clay:

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see laughter, lines.


beautifier

Anthonie Becke […] was (by the report of Iohn Leland) either the very Author, or the first beautifier, of this the Princes house here at Eltham, also.

1576, William Lambarde, “Eltham”, in A Perambulation of Kent, London: Ralphe Newberie, page 384:

1753, Arthur Murphy, The Gray’s Inn Journal, No. 24, 31 March, 1753, in Volume 1, London: P. Vaillant, 1756, p. 160,
To cultivate, therefore, and cherish the natural Affections, to direct them to worthy Objects, to keep them all in Harmony, so that not one of them shall grow out of due Proportion, or contract any whimsical Habit, is the best Preserver and Beautifier of the female Form, it gives that pleasing Turn of Mind which we call Sweetness of Temper, prevents Wrinkles, Distortion of the Features, and gives an agreeable Air to the whole Person […]

The sea is no beautifier, certainly; sailors do grow old betimes; I have often observed it; they soon lose the look of youth.

1818, Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter III:

Meg had spent the time in working as well as waiting, growing womanly in character, wise in housewifery arts, and prettier than ever; for love is a great beautifier.

1868, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 1, in Little Women, volume 2, Boston: Roberts Brothers, published 1869, page 7:

A person who or a thing which beautifies or makes beautiful.

embellisseur

someone or something which makes beautiful


uglification

uglification (countable and uncountable, plural uglifications)

I go to put in readiness the feast
Kept to the honour of our goddess Famine,
Where, for more glory, let the ceremony
Take place of the uglification of the Queen.

1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oedipus Tyrannus; Or, Swellfoot The Tyrant: A Tragedy in Two Acts:

There is an amusing side to this terrible threat to the countryside. So long as the uglification and slummification of England was confined to the industrial centres, few of the really best people troubled themselves.

1928 August, R. B. Suthers, “The Disappearance of Rural England”, in The Labour Magazine, volume 7, number 4, London: Trades Union Congress; Labour Party, page 172:

The process of being made ugly or uglified.

Entstellung

the process of being made ugly or uglified


alikeness

alikeness (countable and uncountable, plural alikenesses)

(uncountable) The state or quality of being alike.

(countable) The result or product of being alike.


prettiness

prettiness (countable and uncountable, plural prettinesses)


unappealing

en-adj

unappealing (comparative more unappealing, superlative most unappealing)

more unappealing (comparative)
most unappealing (superlative)


unappealingly

en-adv

unappealingly (comparative more unappealingly, superlative most unappealingly)

more unappealingly (comparative)
most unappealingly (superlative)


beauty school

A trade school which offers training in cosmetology.


gorgeousness

en-noun

gorgeousness (countable and uncountable, plural gorgeousnesses)

The characteristic or quality of being gorgeous


beauty spot

From beauty (noun) + spot (noun). Some uses of sense 1 (“thing which is beautiful”) are figurative uses of sense 1.2 (“patch on the face to heighten beauty”).

kauneuspilkku

The Deformity, and Filthyneſs of Svvine, make them the Beauty-ſpot of the Animal Creation, and the Emblem of all Vice.

1701, Nehemiah Grew, “Of the Ends of Providence. And First, in this Life.”, in Cosmologia Sacra: Or A Discourse of the Universe as It is the Creature and Kingdom of God. […], London: […] W[illiam] Rogers, S[amuel] Smith, and B[enjamin] Walford: […], →OCLC, 3rd book, paragraph 49, page 102:

(archaic) A thing (especially an aspect of something) which is beautiful.

(cosmetics, historical) A patch or spot drawn or placed on the face in order to heighten beauty.


gorgeously

en-adv

gorgeously (comparative more gorgeously, superlative most gorgeously)

more gorgeously (comparative)
most gorgeously (superlative)

Some of these were dressed most gorgeously, others becomingly, and several sneaked in with fantail bangers, calling themselves "Gentlemen of the Nineteenth Century."

1885 July 9, The Hamilton Spectator, page 4:

What other television show would feature a gorgeously designed sequence where a horrifically mutated Pierre and Marie Curie, their bodies swollen to Godzilla-like proportions from prolonged exposure to the radiation that would eventually kill them, destroy an Asian city with their bare hands like vengeance-crazed monster-Gods?

2012 May 20, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Marge Gets A Job” (season 4, episode 7; originally aired 11/05/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club:


butt-ugly

en-adj

butt-ugly (comparative more butt-ugly, superlative most butt-ugly)

more butt-ugly (comparative)
most butt-ugly (superlative)

(Canada, US, slang, derogatory) Extremely ugly.


hideously

en-adv

hideously (comparative more hideously, superlative most hideously)

more hideously (comparative)
most hideously (superlative)

From Middle English hidously; equivalent to hideous + -ly.


hideousness

en-noun

hideousness (countable and uncountable, plural hideousnesses)

From Middle English hidousnes, hidousnesse, hidowesnesse, hydousnes, hydousnesse, hydusnes; equivalent to hideous + -ness.

The state of being hideous; extreme ugliness


repulsiveness

repulsiveness (countable and uncountable, plural repulsivenesses)

Out of the fact of this palatableness on the part of the one and repulsiveness on the part of the other has grown a singular condition in the southern states, where the trees as here once grew in equal profusion, side by side in the forests.

2011, Winthrop Packard, Forests and Fields Through the Year, page 343:


beauty mark

Synonym of beauty spot (“a natural mark on a person's skin, especially a freckle or mole on a woman's face; a patch or spot drawn or placed on the face in order to heighten beauty”)


unattractively

en-adv

unattractively (comparative more unattractively, superlative most unattractively)

more unattractively (comparative)
most unattractively (superlative)


ill-favored

en-adj

ill-favored (comparative more ill-favored, superlative most ill-favored)

more ill-favored (comparative)
most ill-favored (superlative)

And the ill fauoured and leane fleshed kine, did eate vp the seuen well fauoured and fat kine: So Pharaoh awoke.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 41:4:

Unattractive or offensive to the eye; ugly.


cobby

cobby (comparative cobbier, superlative cobbiest)

cobbier (comparative)
cobbiest (superlative)

So I may middle life enjoy, And jaunt about, my lovely toy; We'll spend our time so cobby, Now thus, be in our hobby, And so enjoy the fashion

1847, John Wright, “A Young Esquire's Arrival At Manhood”, in Anacreontic Poems, On Religious, Moral, and Pastorial Subjects, page 191:

Each one should be master now, of his own nose, But I pray you don't thus, take too strong a dose; -- A circumstance here allow me to mention, The subject of which is all good intention: The thing is so cobby, and just to the point, Of a nose, with the snuff, well nigh out of joint ---

1849, John Wright, “The Snuff subject”, in Second Work of Poems, Entitled A Gem for Every-one, page 71:

As it was, the two at head of the class were cobby in action.

1896, Farmer's Advocate and Home Magazine - Volume 31, page 156:

Give them the third task. If succeed, You'll make them very cobby.

2013, Милеева Марина Николаевна, Радость дарить знания: Английский язык со вкусом химии, page 156:


homeliness

en-noun

homeliness (countable and uncountable, plural homelinesses)

From Middle English homlynesse, homelynesse, hamelynes, equivalent to homely + -ness.


nice-looking

en-adj

nice-looking (comparative more nice-looking or nicer-looking, superlative most nice-looking or nicest-looking)

more nice-looking (comparative)
nicer-looking (comparative)
most nice-looking (superlative)
nicest-looking (superlative)


affect display

We are not satisfied with this account (it is particularly weak in explaining the facial affect display of happiness) but Darwin also had trouble with […].

1970, Paul Ekman et al., “The Repertoire of Non-verbal Behavior”, in Mouton Classics: From Syntax to Cognition, from Phonology to Text, page 843:

[…] Darwin (as is implicit in the title of his book The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals) saw facial affect display as the external expression of an internal emotional state, […].

1987, Donald L. Nathanson, The Many Faces of Shame, page 16:

The marked affect-display, remains, nevertheless, sufficiently similar to the parent's normative emotion expression for the infant to recognize the [….]

2002, Peter Fonagy, Affect Regulation, Mentalization, and the Development of the Self, page 178:

The face is a particularly rich source for affect display, although other parts of the body may also be involved.

2004, Stephen W. Littlejohn, Karen A. Foss, Theories of Human Communication, page 107:

(psychology) External show of emotion or affect, such as by voice, expression, gesture, or posture, whether voluntary or not.


agerasia

/ˌæɡ.əˈɹeɪ.ʒə/

From Ancient Greek ἀγηρασία (agērasía, “eternal youth”). Compare gero-, athanasy.

der

An outward appearance more youthful than one's true age.


(countable, US, slang) A number off the charts of a hypothetical scale of 1 to 10.

An exceptional specimen, (particularly) a physically attractive person.


estheticism

(American spelling) Alternative spelling of aestheticism


bathing beauty

en-noun

bathing beauty (plural bathing beauties)

It is a curious quality of the bathing beauty that there is no requirement of surf or lake in her experience.

1933, Alfred Emanuel Smith, New Outlook, Outlook Publishing Company, Inc., page 30:

And the very idea that a girl could ever at any time achieve fame and fortune by appearing almost naked in a bathing-beauty contest and not only escape the brand of the scarlet woman but actually receive the accolade of her contemporaries' esteem and envy, would have caused her to swoon.

1976, David Lewis Cohn, The Good Old Days: A History of American Morals and Manners as Seen Through the Sears Roebuck Catalog, Ayer Publishing,, →ISBN, page 206:

The time for the bathing beauty had arrived. Botticelli's Venus, born of the salty brine, was dressed in nothing but splendor.

1992, Armando Riverol, Live from Atlantic City: The History of the Miss America Pageant Before, After and in Spite of Television, Popular Press,, →ISBN, page 9:


uglily

en-adv

uglily (comparative more uglily, superlative most uglily)

more uglily (comparative)
most uglily (superlative)

“One thing at least is certain,” remarked King Helmas, frowning uglily, “and it is that among the Peohtes all persons who dispute our prophecies are burned at the stake.”

1921, James Branch Cabell, “The Crown of Wisdom”, in Figures of Earth: A Comedy of Appearances, Robert M[edill] McBride & Co., part one (The Book of Credit), page 56:

Food was pleasant; the sun hot; and this killing oneself, how does one set about it, with a table knife, uglily, with floods of blood,—by sucking a gaspipe?

1925, Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway, London: The Hogarth Press, →OCLC:


beauty parlor

(US, Philippines) A salon where hairdressers, beauticians, and cosmeticians work.


eye-popping

en-adj

eye-popping (comparative more eye-popping, superlative most eye-popping)

more eye-popping (comparative)
most eye-popping (superlative)

The image is of a viewer's eyes opening wide to the point of popping out.

This cocktail of eye-popping visuals and slightly unruly performances absolutely works, allaying any concerns that a band from the post-punk era and the old showbiz connotations of a residency in Las Vegas constitute a slightly uncomfortable fit, regardless of how many millions of records the band has sold, or how mainstream an audience they’ve attracted in the interim.

2023 September 30, Alexis Petridis, “U2 review – an utterly astonishing, admirably raw Vegas extravaganza”, in The Guardian, London:

And most eye-popping of all, Rep. Matt Gaetz – a political bomb-thrower who has faced federal and congressional investigations into alleged unsavory personal conduct – is now President-elect Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney general.

2024 November 14, Linda Feldmann, Henry Gass, “Trump’s eye-popping Cabinet picks show his top priority: Loyalty”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

(informal) Astonishing, stunning, incredible.


Adonic

The actor was not considered attractive enough to play such an Adonic character.

(of a man) Very beautiful or handsome; physically perfect.


face that would stop a clock

en-noun

face that would stop a clock (plural faces that would stop a clock or faces that would stop clocks)

faces that would stop a clock (plural)
faces that would stop clocks (plural)

He described the thug as a very ugly and wicked-looking man, with a face that "would stop a clock".

1891 March 20, “The Mystery Still Deep: Queer story told by a strange young Englishman”, in New York Times, page 5:

We realize that all women are fair only in theory and that if we arranged them in the order of fairness we should have at one end the face that launched a thousand ships and at the other end the face that would stop a clock.

1927, “Editorial Comment: Thinking Statistically”, in Educational Research Bulletin, volume 6, number 7, page 142:

Archie was an artist, finely chiselled, "the type girls go for like catnip." He . . . was expected to marry an American heiress. But she loved a muscular curate with a face that would stop a clock.

2004 July 4, Barbara Hall, “Bookwise: Questions”, in Sunday Times, UK, retrieved 2008-07-05:

(idiomatic) A shockingly unattractive face.

Hey darlin'
I can remember when you could stop a clock.

1983, John Cougar Mellencamp, Pink Houses:

(idiomatic) A shockingly attractive face.


not a pretty sight

The navvy was certainly not a pretty sight. His muscular arms and legs were all a-sprawl and his head hung back at a strange angle to his body.

1890, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 44, in The Firm of Girdlestone:

Bud was not a pretty sight. Four days and nights of trying to see how much whisky he could drink, and how long he could play poker without going to sleep or going broke, had left their mark on his face.

1918, B. M. Bower, chapter 11, in Cabin Fever:

(euphemistic, sometimes humorous) Something visually unappealing, ranging from mildly unattractive to utterly disgusting in appearance.


beauty contest

The locomotives were labelled 'ugly', 'unsightly' and 'industrial', as their cab fronts were a mass of slats, grooves and blocks (despite the fact that, of course, locomotives are for work - it's not a beauty contest).

2019 December 4, Pip Dunn, “Class 70s: a decade of disappointment?”, in Rail, page 65:

A competition in which participants compete for a determination that one is the most physically attractive.


beauty pageant

physically attractive
physically attractive


beauty sleep

beauty sleep (countable and uncountable, plural beauty sleeps)

A medical man, who may be called up at any moment, must make sure of his ‘beauty-sleep.’

1857, Charles Kingsley, “The Cruise of the Waterwitch”, in Two Years Ago, volume II, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 148:

And would I please to remember that I had roused him up at night, and the quality always made a point of paying four times over for a man's loss of his beauty-sleep. I replied that his loss of beauty-sleep was rather improving to a man of so high complexion; and that I, being none of that quality, must pay half-quality prices; […]

1869, R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, chapter XII, in Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor. […], volume III, London: Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, […], →OCLC, pages 187–188:

At first he was quite peevish. "What's the idea," he said, "coming and spoiling a man's beauty-sleep? Get out."

1915 November, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “The Mixer: I. He Meets a Shy Gentleman.”, in The Man with Two Left Feet and Other Stories, London: Methuen & Co. […], published 1922, →OCLC, page 67:

(uncountable) Originally, sleep taken before midnight, on the belief that early sleep hours conduce to beauty and health; now (chiefly humorous), sleep at any time needed by one to stay beautiful; (countable) an instance of such sleep.

kauneusunet

originally, sleep taken before midnight, on the belief that early sleep hours conduce to beauty and health; now, sleep at any time needed by one to stay beautiful; an instance of such sleep


beautifiable

en-adj

beautifiable (comparative more beautifiable, superlative most beautifiable)

more beautifiable (comparative)
most beautifiable (superlative)

Able to be beautified; capable of being made more beautiful.


snazz up

en-verb

snazz up (third-person singular simple present snazzes up, present participle snazzing up, simple past and past participle snazzed up)

snazzes up (present singular third-person)
snazzing up (participle present)
snazzed up (participle past)
snazzed up (past)

He worked with me from the very beginning to tighten and brighten my writing, snazz up my layouts.

1983, Donna Hagemann, edited by Judith Clabes, New Guardians of the Press: Selected Profiles of America's Women Newspaper Editors, →ISBN, page 88:

And wouldn't it snazz up the entrance to have a stained-glass window replace the clear one over the front door?

2003, Nora Roberts, Key of Light, →ISBN, page 186:

The Great White Way has in recent years increasingly banked on resurrections of Golden Oldie musicals and dramas from earlier decades, snazzed up with cinematic stars as box-office bait.

2003 June 1, Misha Berson, “On Broadway, old wine in snazzy new bottles”, in Seattle Times, retrieved 2009-01-08:

(transitive, chiefly US, informal) To improve appearance or appeal by increasing stylishness or functionality, or by adding other attractive features.


plain Jane

Charm school instructors […] can do something even for the plainest of plain Janes.

1954 November, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, volume 8, number 11, page 46:

(informal) A young woman or girl of average or unremarkable appearance.

graue Maus

young woman of average or unremarkable appearance


studly

en-adj

studly (comparative studlier, superlative studliest)

studlier (comparative)
studliest (superlative)

(informal) Like a stud; being or relating to a sexually attractive male.


beauty queen

(idiomatic) The female winner of a beauty contest.


uncute

uncute (comparative more uncute, superlative most uncute)

more uncute (comparative)
most uncute (superlative)

During following years, several more dogs lived with us — two incredibly cute beagle pups, two incredibly uncute bloodhounds […]

2002, Raymond Coppinger, Lorna Coppinger, Dogs:

Avery's decidedly uncute single friend immediately started reminiscing about his wild and crazy frat days at Michigan […]

2005, Lauren Weisberger, Everyone Worth Knowing:

You would be surprised at how uncute people who are not closely related to the baby think it is to watch a wet or soiled diaper being changed.

2005, Judith Martin, Miss Manners' guide to excruciatingly correct behavior:


beauty parlour

(UK) Alternative spelling of beauty parlor


let oneself go

en-verb

let oneself go (third-person singular simple present lets oneself go, present participle letting oneself go, simple past and past participle let oneself go)

lets oneself go (present singular third-person)
letting oneself go (participle present)
let oneself go (participle past)
let oneself go (past)

Cherrie fell down the tree of ugly and hit branches galore upon letting herself go.

(idiomatic) To cease to care about one's appearance, allowing oneself to become unkempt, overweight, etc.


pretty up

pretty up (third-person singular simple present pretties up, present participle prettying up, simple past and past participle prettied up)

pretties up (present singular third-person)
prettying up (participle present)
prettied up (participle past)
prettied up (past)

Company will be here soon, so I'm going to go now and pretty up.

(informal, transitive, intransitive) To make pretty.


uncomely

en-adj

uncomely (comparative uncomelier, superlative uncomeliest)

uncomelier (comparative)
uncomeliest (superlative)

From Middle English uncomli, uncomelich, uncumelich, unkumelich, equivalent to un- + comely.


hideosity

en-noun

hideosity (countable and uncountable, plural hideosities)


fresh-faced

en-adj

fresh-faced (comparative more fresh-faced, superlative most fresh-faced)

more fresh-faced (comparative)
most fresh-faced (superlative)

(idiomatic, of people) Looking young and healthy.


hatchet-faced

hatchet-faced (comparative more hatchet-faced, superlative most hatchet-faced)

more hatchet-faced (comparative)
most hatchet-faced (superlative)

There's three blokes who look like the Nazgul in pinstripes, and a skinny hatchet-faced bird who keeps saying “Well?” at me every time she asks me a question and I don't answer her inside half a second.

2012, Tom Holt, You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps, page 133:

(of a person) Having a narrow face with sharp, angular features.


look the part

en-verb

look the part (third-person singular simple present looks the part, present participle looking the part, simple past and past participle looked the part)

looks the part (present singular third-person)
looking the part (participle present)
looked the part (participle past)
looked the part (past)

If you want to be a successful business person, you have to look the part.

We were going to cast him in our new movie but unfortunately he didn't look the part.

Turner looked assured, picking out his men at the lineouts, while Redpath was seeing plenty of the ball and also looked the part as the Scots probed for opening.

2021 February 6, Graham Bean, “Scotland beat England at Twickenham for the first time in 38 years”, in The Scotsman:

(idiomatic) To appear suitable for a particular kind of work, position or role.


it's what's inside that counts

One's personality is more important than one's physical looks.


face for radio

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-face for radio.wav

Because a radio presenter is never seen by the audience.

(colloquial, derogatory, humorous) An ugly face.


pooty

en-adj

pooty (comparative pootier, superlative pootiest)

pootier (comparative)
pootiest (superlative)

Representing a dialectal or colloquial pronunciation of pretty. Compare purty. The adverb is derived from the adjective.

1857, The Atlantic Monthly/Volume 1, No.1, Sally Parson's Duty
"Bless your pooty little figger-head, Sally! I don't know as 'tis, but suthin' nigh about as bad is a-comin...


suited and booted

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-suited and booted.wav

From suited (“wearing a suit”, adjective) + and + booted (“wearing a boot or boots”, adjective), the words chosen for the rhyme.

You can get Suited and Booted at such figures as will astonish you at the Star Store.

1876 November 30, “Local notices [advertisements]”, in Ja[me]s M. Cavaness, editor, Southern Kansas Advance, volume 8, number 47 (number 411 overall), Chetopa, Kan.: Jas. M. Cavaness, page 3, column 3:

Heroines will be suited and booted in tweeds this winter. Anyway, that is Dorothy Mackaill's latest street costume; a tweed suit and shoes of the same material trimmed with a little leather.

[1928 December 19, “Screen Life in Hollywood: Tailored shoes”, in Mandan Daily Pioneer, volume XV, number 198, Mandan, N.D.: Pioneer Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 4, column 5:

Jauntily suited and booted, Kathy Sheron (15), of Whitson-road, Huntington Station, New York, arrives in London to claim her prize. Kathy has won the Dave Clark Five—the British Beat Group—in a national contest, along with the title, "Miss Natural Wonder."

1965 August 7, The Guardian Journal, number J43,507, G34,027, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire: T. Bailey Forman, →OCLC, page 3, column 3:

The ultimate in suede suited and booted for individualists [title]

1974 November, “The Ultimate in Suede Suited and Booted for Individualists [advertisement]”, in John H[arold] Johnson, editor, Ebony, volume XXX, number 1, Chicago, Ill.: Johnson Publishing Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6:

In this novella, the TM [Talkative Man] meets Dr Rann, who claims to be a United Nations specialist, and unable to find a place for the strange visitor—who, as they used to say, was suited and booted—takes him to his own house.

1999, S. Krishnan, “Talkative Man [Introduction]”, in R[asipuram] K[rishnaswami Iyer] Narayan[aswami], edited by S. Krishnan, A Town Called Malgudi: The Finest Fiction of R. K. Narayan […], New Delhi, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, published 2002, →ISBN, page 259:

A couple of suited and booted business types appeared by my side, tossing peanuts into their mouths and gawping at the screens as though they had never seen a television before. They couldn't be from the TV station or any of the production companies that made the shows, because they were far too formally dressed.

2002, Tony Parsons, chapter 13, in Man and Wife, special overseas edition, London: HarperCollins, published 2003, →ISBN, part 2 (Your Heart is a Small Miracle), page 132:

When Bobby and Elaine showed up at a candidate's night or event or at just another speaking engagement, the chairman was wearing a suit and tie and Elaine was suited and booted in a dress, heels, the whole nine yards.

2006, Flores Alexander Forbes, chapter 11, in Will You Die with Me?: My Life and the Black Panther Party, 1st trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Washington Square Press, Simon & Schuster, published July 2007, →ISBN, page 81:

Initially, his [Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar's] photograph was popularized through posters and pamphlets published and distributed by the RPI [Republican Party of India] for disseminating information about forthcoming meetings. The image was that of a suited and booted, westernized gentleman holding a copy of the Constitution in one hand. This image appeared to the common Dalits as a symbol of awareness through education and the fight for a better future. It also helped deconstruct the stereotypical notion of Dalits as being oppressed, suppressed and illiterate.

2006, Badri Narayan, “Visuals, Cultural Performances and Myths”, in Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India: Culture, Identity and Politics (Cultural Subordination and the Dalit Challenge; 5), New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, →ISBN, page 76:

When she finally slept, it was to dream relentlessly of Michael. One moment he would be standing behind his desk, suited and booted, the next they would be naked in bed together, his glare boring into her soul, […]

2020, M. S. Batham, chapter 6, in Love, Vengeance, and Lies, Garibaldi Highlands, Squamish, B.C.: eXtasy Books, →ISBN, page 64:

(originally South Asia) Dressed smartly, especially in business or formal wear.

puku yllään

dressed smartly, especially in business or formal wear


sex bomb

Devour will annex the studio for whose chief (Sid Caesar) our boys are working the moment it goes bankrupt; hence that silent movie must be thwarted, whether by skulduggery, violence, or a booze-inducing sex-bomb (Bernadette Peters).

1976, New York Magazine - 19 Jul 1976, page 84:

Sex bomb, sex bomb, you're my sex bomb / And, baby, you can turn me on

(colloquial) Someone who is highly physically attractive; a bombshell.


aesthetic surgery

en-noun

aesthetic surgery (countable and uncountable, plural aesthetic surgeries)

Still, for those like Betty Ford who feel the need for outer rejuvenation, aesthetic surgery can be a godsend.

1978 October 23, “Living: The Unveiling of a New Ford”, in Time:

(medicine) Surgery which alters a person's physical appearance, performed not for health reasons but in order to increase his or her beauty or physical appeal; cosmetic surgery.


smoking hot

en-adj

smoking hot (comparative more smoking hot, superlative most smoking hot)

more smoking hot (comparative)
most smoking hot (superlative)


Hollywood ugly

Hollywood ugly (comparative more Hollywood ugly, superlative most Hollywood ugly)

more Hollywood ugly (comparative)
most Hollywood ugly (superlative)

(of a fictional character) good-looking passed off as ugly; ugly by Hollywood standards


mackly

mackly (comparative more mackly, superlative most mackly)

more mackly (comparative)
most mackly (superlative)

From Middle English makli, from make (“easy”, adj), from Old Norse makr (“easy”), from Proto-Germanic *makaz (“comfortable, suitable”), from Proto-Indo-European *mag- (“to knead, press”), equivalent to make + -ly. Cognate with Old English macalīc (“convenient”), Scots makly, Middle Low German gemaclīch, Middle High German gemechlīche (“easily”) (German gemächlich (“gently”)), Dutch makkelijk (“easy”).

cog

(UK dialectal) Seemly; comely; good-looking.


laidly

en-adj

laidly (comparative more laidly, superlative most laidly)

more laidly (comparative)
most laidly (superlative)

From Middle English laithlie (“ugly”), equivalent to loath+-ly.

(UK, Scotland, dialect, archaic) ugly; loathsome


smock-faced

smock-faced (comparative more smock-faced, superlative most smock-faced)

more smock-faced (comparative)
most smock-faced (superlative)

A smock-faced amoroso.

That counter-casting, smock-faced boy.

None of your smock-faced young fellows.

(dated) Having a feminine expression or appearance; smooth-faced; girlish-faced.


soliform

soliform (comparative more soliform, superlative most soliform)

more soliform (comparative)
most soliform (superlative)

For as light , and sight , or the seeing faculty , may both of them rightly be said to be soliform things, or of kin to the sun , but neither of them to be the sun itself

1678, R[alph] Cudworth, The True Intellectual System of the Universe: The First Part; wherein All the Reason and Philosophy of Atheism is Confuted; and Its Impossibility Demonstrated, London: […] Richard Royston, […], →OCLC:


heaven on a stick

(slang) Something that is extremely pleasing or attractive.


spiff up

en-verb

spiff up (third-person singular simple present spiffs up, present participle spiffing up, simple past and past participle spiffed up)

spiffs up (present singular third-person)
spiffing up (participle present)
spiffed up (participle past)
spiffed up (past)

He was all spiffed up, this chap, decked out in a spotless white shirt and a bow tie.

2008, Preeta Samarasan, Evening is the Whole Day, Fourth Estate, page 22:

(transitive, slang, idiomatic) To decorate or otherwise make more attractive.


suited-booted

From suited (“wearing a suit”, adjective) + booted (“wearing a boot or boots”, adjective), the words chosen for the rhyme.

suited and booted
suited and booted#English

(South Asia) Synonym of suited and booted (“dressed smartly, especially in business or formal wear”)


fetching

en-adj

fetching (comparative more fetching, superlative most fetching)

more fetching (comparative)
most fetching (superlative)

Nurse Cramer had a cute nose and a radiant, blooming complexion dotted with fetching sprays of adorable freckles that Yossarian detested.

1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171:

I am not, I regret to say, a discreet and fetching sleeper. Most people when they nod off look as if they could do with a blanket; I look as if I could do with medical attention.

2000, Bill Bryson, chapter 1, in In a Sunburned Country, page 11:

“The men in this town have a serious case of pussy affluenza,” says Amy Watanabe, 28, the fetching, tattooed owner of Sake Bar Satsko, a lively izakaya in New York’s East Village.

2015, Nancy Jo Sales, “Tinder and the Dawn of the “Dating Apocalypse””, in Vanity Fair:


dime piece

Suggesting a score of 10/10 on the informal scale of beauty, since a dime is worth 10 cents. Possibly in imitation of timepiece.

You're not a dime piece, you're a diva

2004, “Girl Like U”performed by Snoop Dogg ft. Nelly:

Carmiesha "Lil' Muddah" Vernoy had been with me since back in the day. She was more than a dime piece. She was drop-dead gorgeous and had the best pussy in the world.

2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 21:

"Don't act like we didn't kick it something fierce back in the day." Drew smiled. "My homies knew what I was working with back then," he said. "It ain't too often a brotha lucks up on a bona-fide dimepiece like you, Lachez."

2012, Tucker, Pat, Daddy's Maybe, Largo, M.D.: Strebor Books, →ISBN, page 188:

So tell me sugafoot. Why is a dimepiece like you single?

2014, Keisha Ervin, Cashmere Mafia, →ISBN, page 137:


beautiness

her beautiness was overwhelming


permayouth

With people living longer and treatments improving, anti-ageing medicine is now a lucrative business. But as the quest for 'permayouth' spreads beyond Hollywood, doctors warn that it could become an unhealthy obsession

2002 April 7, Anthony Browne, “The obsession with eternal youth”, in The Guardian:

I knew there was a downside to having the injections; the permanently surprised eyebrows, the scarily impassive face, but I thought that was the result of too many top-ups; Hollywood's addiction to permayouth.

2009 June 25, Sally Brampton, “Elixir of youth? No, Botox left me looking like a Neanderthal”, in Daily Mail:

2013 September 29, Eileen Bradbury, “Permayouth: exploring the never-ending human quest for eternal youth”, in Journal of Aesthetic Nursing, volume 1, number 3:

The state of having a perpetually youthful appearance.


ugly as sin

It was easy enough to see that the child was a changeling, for it wasn't like other children at all it screamed and cried, as if a knife stuck in it, and it wheezed and hit about with its arms like a huldre-cat, and was as ugly as sin.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 298:

'She is a personality,' said M. Bouc. 'Ugly as sin, but she makes herself felt.'.

1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 3, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 26:


boobilicious

boobilicious (comparative more boobilicious, superlative most boobilicious)

more boobilicious (comparative)
most boobilicious (superlative)

(slang, somewhat vulgar) Featuring highly attractive breasts.


good looker

Both of these sows have the quality and finish and are noted for their width of back, good hams, good bone and are good lookers.

(idiomatic) A physically attractive individual, animal, or object.


Pippi Longstocking

en-noun

Pippi Longstocking (plural Pippi Longstockings)

Astrid Lindgren
Inger Nilsson
Pippi Longstocking

Named after the character created by Astrid Lindgren, calque of Swedish Pippi Långstrump.

named-after

Then we’re swept back to her school days, where we see her giggling like a regular Pippi Longstocking as she spies on Rivera (Alfred Molina) applying his creative juices to an artist’s model while being berated by his wife (Valeria Golino).

2002 October 23, Ella Taylor with Frida (reviewer), “Sex-mad and Self-obsessed”, in LA Weekly:

You’re a regular Pippi Longstocking, you know that?

2014, P. V. Lundqvist, The Counterfeit Father: A Tony Pandy Mystery, Stick Raven Press:

Have I discovered my inner Pippi Longstocking?

2015, Patrice Vecchione, Step Into Nature: Nurturing Imagination and Spirit in Everyday Life, Simon & Schuster, page 10:

A person, especially a girl or woman, given to headstrong, wild behaviour, flights of fancy, or irrepressible optimism.


gorg

That suit is gorg!


smoke show

(slang) An extremely attractive-looking individual.


Shrek

From the fictional ogre Shrek, created by the American author William Steig for his 1990 picture book Shrek! and popularized by the DreamWorks computer-animated movie franchise, whose name derives from Yiddish שרעק (shrek, “fright”).

[See title]

2009 January 9, Shaka Zulu, “Coolio should punch that ugly Shrek northerner woman in the nose”, in free.uk.tv.bigbrother (Usenet):

'Well, well, well, who have we got here? 'A very fat Shrek suddenly loomed up on them. 'Your host at your service,' he said, with a little bow.

'I don't want my sister to see you look like a mess, like an ugly Shrek.'

2016, Jadyn Patrilita, Petimara Ualesi, Fear to Lose:

How do you dry your hair? NO DIFFUSER? You are a Shrek. Diffusers are essential!

2017 May 27, Rekha Shankar, “A Few Simple Tips for Curly-hair Care”, in The New Yorker:

(slang, derogatory) An extremely ugly person.

Shrek (character)
Shrek (franchise)
Shrek!
William Steig


hard-featured

en-adj

hard-featured (comparative more hard-featured, superlative most hard-featured)

more hard-featured (comparative)
most hard-featured (superlative)

Having stern, harsh or unattractive facial features.


whey-faced

whey-faced (comparative more whey-faced, superlative most whey-faced)

more whey-faced (comparative)
most whey-faced (superlative)


cuten

en-verb

cuten (third-person singular simple present cutens, present participle cutening, simple past and past participle cutened)

cutens (present singular third-person)
cutening (participle present)
cutened (participle past)
cutened (past)

So Doggett tented us together and probably hoped I would drag Lou Rae behind me to Evening Pro and Chunka Chow and Wood Wiz and Lake Sci (and by now I was thinking grimly: Why these bleached-bra Christian girls from Maine have to cuten the entire world with nicknames I don't know) but exactly the opposite happened.

2011, Jaimy Gordon, Bogeywoman, page 12:

Perhaps because of its utility for reinforcing traditional notions of female delicacy and dependency, and for displacing unpleasant thoughts, the kawaisa aesthetic has arguably been Japan's most successful cultural export to East and Southeast Asian countries, which have enthusiastically joined its unannounced campaign to cuten up our ugly world.

2017, E. Taylor Atkins, A History of Popular Culture in Japan:

He looked like a miniature version of his father. My stepfather's features were okay on a grown man, but they didn't look so good on a baby. Mommy must have read the worried look on my face. She laughed gaily and assured me, “Your brother still has the new baby look. Don't worry. He'll start to 'cuten up' real soon.” “I sure hope so,” I said to myself. She was absolutely glowing and proud of the fact that Arthur looked just like his daddy.


lack-looks

Oh but our sweet fac't Gentlewomen will keepe your profession in great request; our lacke-lookes and barren-beauties will vphold it for euer, when the old Baude like a greene apple parch't in an Ouen, or the Italian coulorist with his new cast face shall present this good complexion.

1618, Thomas Decker, The Owles Almanacke:


puggish

en-adj

puggish (comparative more puggish, superlative most puggish)

more puggish (comparative)
most puggish (superlative)

She had a very round face, small squinted eyes, and a short puggish nose.

2014, Laura & Ruth Martin, Raven and the Three Dark Shadows, page 34:

Resembling or characteristic of a pug dog.


tallow-faced

tallow-faced (comparative more tallow-faced, superlative most tallow-faced)

more tallow-faced (comparative)
most tallow-faced (superlative)

Having a pasty or sickly yellowish complexion.


painful on the eyes

painful on the eyes (comparative more painful on the eyes, superlative most painful on the eyes)

more painful on the eyes (comparative)
most painful on the eyes (superlative)

(idiomatic) Ugly, disagreeable to look at.


look one's best

en-verb

look one's best (third-person singular simple present looks one's best, present participle looking one's best, simple past and past participle looked one's best)

looks one's best (present singular third-person)
looking one's best (participle present)
looked one's best (participle past)
looked one's best (past)


pug-ugly

en-adj

pug-ugly (comparative more pug-ugly, superlative most pug-ugly)

more pug-ugly (comparative)
most pug-ugly (superlative)

Then look at the medical profession as a whole. A more pug-ugly collection of badly-dressed social misfits would be difficult to find.

2014, Doctor at Large, by Richard Gordon, House of Stratus, →ISBN:

We've all witnessed it: 'Look at his wee nose and those darling eyes, he's the most beautiful baby in the world,' uttered to the most pug-ugly baby you have ever seen.

2017, Inside Out Parenting: How to Build Strong Children from a Core of Self-Esteem, by Dr Holan Liang, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:


comly

comly (comparative more comly or comlier, superlative most comly or comliest)

more comly (comparative)
comlier (comparative)
most comly (superlative)
comliest (superlative)

From Middle English comly. More at comely.


bad-looking

bad-looking (comparative more bad-looking or worse-looking, superlative most bad-looking or worst-looking)

more bad-looking (comparative)
worse-looking (comparative)
most bad-looking (superlative)
worst-looking (superlative)

This was the worst-looking house on the street. Why had he taken it on? He'd told her that he was planning to do most of the renovation work himself.

2008, Fiona Gibson, Something Good, →ISBN, page 33:

Aside from being desirable on macroeconomic grounds, a policy of the lowest possible unemployment would create the additional benefit of reducing the earnings disadvantage of bad-looking workers; and it might even spill over to their treatment in other areas.

2011, Daniel S. Hamermesh, Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful, →ISBN, page 178:


plain-looking

en-adjective

plain-looking (comparative more plain-looking, superlative most plain-looking)

more plain-looking (comparative)
most plain-looking (superlative)

Not beautiful, distinctive, or remarkable in appearance.


look like who did it and ran

en-verb

look like who did it and ran (third-person singular simple present looks like who did it and ran, present participle looking like who did it and ran, simple past and past participle looked like who did it and ran)

looks like who did it and ran (present singular third-person)
looking like who did it and ran (participle present)
looked like who did it and ran (participle past)
looked like who did it and ran (past)

From the question a person might be asked after a prank.

My house looks like who did it and ran.

(simile) To appear messy or dishevelled.


look<> as if one has<has,has,had> been dragged through a hedge backwards

look as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards (third-person singular simple present looks as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards, present participle looking as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards, simple past and past participle looked as if one had been dragged through a hedge backwards)

/ˌlʊk‿əz‿ɪf ˈwʌn həz bɪn ˈdɹæɡd θɹuː‿ə hɛd͡ʒ ˈbækwɜːdz/

/ˌlʊk‿əz‿ɪf ˈwʌn həz bɪn ˈdɹæɡd θɹu‿ə hɛd͡ʒ ˈbækwɝdz/

Bill is right, for I heard him say myself she [a racehorse] couldn't stay; he'd eat her if she won: drawn too fine; was on the go; done too much work; had a bad night, and looked as if she was dragged through a hedge backwards, and hadn't eaten a feed of corn for a month.

1865, R. H. Copperthwaite, “Turf Topics”, in The Turf and the Racehorse […], London: Day and Son, […], →OCLC, pages 78–79:

"Papa wants you in the library," she said, coldly; "but I advise you not to go downstairs till you have smoothed your hair. You look as if you had been dragged through a hedge backwards."

1875, Mary Neville, “[A Little Heiress.] Chapter VI. Leaves from an Old Diary.”, in Alice Godolphin and A Little Heiress. Two Stories. […], volume II, London: Samuel Tinsley, […], →OCLC, page 57:

"I want the waist to be narrow," I told the tailor at Huntsmans, "I don't want to look as if I've been dragged through a hedge backwards."

2004, Harry Turner, “High Fashion 1947 Style”, in Growing Up in Fulham: Memories of SW6 1940–1953, London: Janus Publishing Company, published 2006, →ISBN, page 215:

Fasten that top button, Kosh. […] And tidy up that bearskin! You look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards.

[2018, Brian Luff, Jack and the Magical Beanstalk: A Traditional Family Pantomime, [London]: Fit2Fill, →ISBN, act I, scene ii, page 22:

A nail technician was mortified after splurging £500 on 'princess hair' only to end up looking like she'd been "dragged through a hedge backwards" – after getting in a hot tub. […] The teen confesses that advice is to avoid chlorinated water, wearing your hair in a bun or sleeping with wet hair after having extensions fitted – and she managed to do all three in one night.

[2021 August 18, Martha Cliff, “Hair scare: I spent £500 on ‘princess hair’ – but as soon as I got it wet I looked like I’d been ‘dragged through a hedge backwards’”, in The Sun, London: News Group Newspapers, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-11-15:

(intransitive, British, simile, humorous, informal) To look extremely dishevelled.


look like a bomb has hit it

look<> like a bomb has<has,has,had> hit it

look like a bomb has hit it (third-person singular simple present looks like a bomb has hit it, present participle looking like a bomb has hit it, simple past and past participle looked like a bomb had hit it)

looks like a bomb has hit it (present singular third-person)
looking like a bomb has hit it (participle present)
looked like a bomb had hit it (participle past)
looked like a bomb had hit it (past)

(simile, informal, of a place) to be very messy.


unicorn vomit

I envy how obviously homemade it is, and how the 12 pounds of sprinkles dumped on top of it make it look like a tray of unicorn vomit.

2011, Haley Massara, "The etiquette of cake", Granite Bay Gazette (Granite Bay High School, Granite Bay, California), 8 April 2011, page A10

"Well, it's awesome," I say, thinking "awesome" is a generous word for a scarf that resembles unicorn vomit.

2014, Tawni Waters, Beauty and the Broken, unnumbered page:

"Because you don't let me go deeper than that. You don't let me write anything but pretty stories that make people feel like they're tromping through unicorn vomit while holding baskets of cupcakes in their arms."

2015, Hannah Brencher, If You Find This Letter: My Journey to Find Purpose Through Hundreds of Letters to Strangers, page 69:

(slang, idiomatic, humorous) Something extremely colorful, sweet, or cloying.


beauty rest

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-beauty rest.wav

Synonym of beauty sleep (extra sleep or a special nap)


ugly as bull-beef

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-ugly as bull-beef.wav


look one's age

look one's age (third-person singular simple present looks one's age, present participle looking one's age, simple past and past participle looked one's age)

looks one's age (present singular third-person)
looking one's age (participle present)
looked one's age (participle past)
looked one's age (past)


beach body

Spend one perfect hour at the gym twice a week — and keep your beach body all the way through sweater season

2007, Women's Health, volume 4, number 8:

Keep your beach body — or get it to begin with — using the exclusive shape-up plan women love

There's no need to go to extremes to get your beach body back. Not when you can fine dine your way to a slimmer, healthier you.

2008, New York, volume 41, numbers 20-24, page 199:

The body of a person that has been developed to a state of physical attractiveness for display in swimwear at the beach.


formous

en-adj

formous (comparative more formous, superlative most formous)

more formous (comparative)
most formous (superlative)

She is the daughter of the Wazir Shams al-Din and she is a model of beauty and loveliness, of fairest favour and formous form, and dight with symmetry and perfect grace.

1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “Tale of Núr al-Dín Alí and His Son Badr al-Dín Hasan”, in A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume I, [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC, page 212:


wig and falsies

Don't put a fake wig and falsies on your advertised product.

1953, Harvey Whipple, Concrete, volume 61, page 39:

I am a consummate, dyed-in-the-wool, classic Eudora fan, and Mozilla Thunderbird - or for that matter any three-pane user interface email client dating back to Claris Emailer - is simply not my cup of tea, so dressing T-bird up in a Eudora wig and falsies is not going to cut it for me, or a lot of other Eudora aficionados.

2008 April 21, Charles Moore, “Odysseus Cometh: The Real Successor to Eudora”, in Low End Mac, archived from the original on 2021-07-12:

(colloquial, figurative) An attempt to make something look like something else without significantly altering its core functionality.


look like something the cat dragged in

en-verb

look like something the cat dragged in (third-person singular simple present looks like something the cat dragged in, present participle looking like something the cat dragged in, simple past and past participle looked like something the cat dragged in)

looks like something the cat dragged in (present singular third-person)

From the habit of domestic cats of bringing home the remains of killed animals.

look like something the cat's dragged in

(simile) To have a very dishevelled or untidy appearance.


pixie-faced

Of a female, having facial features typically associated with pixies (short-cropped hair (pixie cut), a small cute nose, and bright or mischievous smile).


chio bu

[ˌt͡ʃʰjoː˨ ˈbuː˦˨]

From Hokkien 𪁎母 /𲍸母 (chhio bú, literally “lascivious woman”).


hatchet face

A narrow face with sharp, angular features.


fall off the ugly tree

en-verb

fall off the ugly tree (third-person singular simple present falls off the ugly tree, present participle falling off the ugly tree, simple past fell off the ugly tree, past participle fallen off the ugly tree)

falls off the ugly tree (present singular third-person)
falling off the ugly tree (participle present)
fell off the ugly tree (past)
fallen off the ugly tree (participle past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-fall off the ugly tree.wav

Looks like you fell off the ugly tree ... Looks like you fell off the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down!

fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch#English

Alternative form of fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch


fall<,,fell,fallen> out of the ugly tree and hit<,,hit> every branch

fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch (third-person singular simple present falls out of the ugly tree and hits every branch, present participle falling out of the ugly tree and hitting every branch, simple past fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch, past participle fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch.wav

(slang, derogatory, idiomatic, of a person) To become extremely unattractive.


beauty won't make the pot boil

Being physically attractive may have its benefits, but it is not enough to make a living.

uiterlijk schoon is sletchts vertoon

physical attractiveness alone isn't enough


racktacular

en-adj

racktacular (comparative more racktacular, superlative most racktacular)

more racktacular (comparative)
most racktacular (superlative)

Standing next to the blackboard in a dangerously short dress, the physics professor was astonishingly racktacular.

Other bondsmen continuously warned me about Beth, saying she was tough, ruthless, and smart as hell. Ahhh...all the qualities I like in a woman, plus she was rack-tacular.

2007, Duane Dog Chapman, “Twenty-Five: Mistake”, in You Can Run but You Can't Hide, Hachette Books:

Compared to my first Emmy win, I looked downright conservative and yet a bit trashy all at the same time; I had no bra on and was still nursing Max, so my breasts were racktacular!

2011, Kim Zimmer, Laura Morton, I'm Just Sayin'!: Three Deaths, Seven Husbands, and a Clone! My Life on Guiding Light and Beyond, Penguin:

I later found out that the cab stuffer preferred petite, ninety-pound, racktacular women, which wasn't me.

2020, Holly Parker, Back on the Market: A Realtor's Guide to Love and Life, Simon and Schuster, page 169:

(slang, humorous, slightly vulgar) possessing amazing, outstanding, or impressive breasts.


racktastic

racktastic (comparative more racktastic, superlative most racktastic)

more racktastic (comparative)
most racktastic (superlative)

Seeing her poured into her tight costume, they had to admit that the heroine looked racktastic.

...racktastic Michelle can woo dudes, and Vic can open locked chests.

2008, The Official Xbox Magazine, numbers 88–90, page 66:

"Fine. I can take a hint. You don't want to talk about Miss Racktastic 2000. Does that mean you'll pass me her number?"

2010, Christine Warren, One Bite with a Stranger, Macmillan, page 129:

"Man, did you see that girl on set today, the extra? Her chest was racktastic. The way they moved . . . God I wish I were single."

2016, Lisa Henthorn, 25 Sense, Simon and Schuster:

Ninjette: "You're supah strong ! You're invincible—well, not so much. You're, uh... you're racktastic !"
Empowered: "(Hff) I'm 'racktastic '? (Hnnh) Having allegedly largish breasteses (hnff) ...that's not a superpower, okay?"
Ninjette: "Oh, but I beg to differ, Count Rackula. Believe me, I'd so flaunt 'em if I had 'em!"

2020, Adam Warren, Empowered Omnibus Volume 1, Dark Horse Books, page 470:

(slang, humorous, slightly vulgar) possessing especially attractive or impressive breasts.