Ugly in Different Languages: How to Say “Ugly” in 70 Languages Around the World

Wondering how to say “ugly” in different languages? Whether you are learning vocabulary, writing a multilingual story, translating a phrase, or simply exploring words around the world, knowing the local expression can make your language skills more natural.

The English word “ugly” describes something that is unattractive, unpleasant to look at, or lacking beauty.

However, the exact translation can change according to gender, number, grammar, formality, and context.

In this guide, you will discover ugly in different languages, including the native word, an easy English pronunciation, a short example sentence, and its English meaning.

This makes the list useful for language learners, travelers, writers, and anyone searching for ugly translations around the world.

Ugly in Different Languages: 70 Translations

The table below shows how to say “ugly” in 70 languages. Where a language changes adjectives according to gender or context, the form shown is a common masculine or general dictionary form.

No.	Language	Native phrase	Easy English pronunciation	Example sentence	English meaning
1	English	Ugly	UHG-lee	The old building is ugly.	The old building is unattractive.
2	Spanish	Feo	FAY-oh	El edificio es feo.	The building is ugly.
3	French	Laid	Lay	Ce bâtiment est laid.	This building is ugly.
4	German	Hässlich	HESS-lich	Das Gebäude ist hässlich.	The building is ugly.
5	Italian	Brutto	BROOT-toh	Il palazzo è brutto.	The building is ugly.
6	Portuguese	Feio	FAY-oh	O prédio é feio.	The building is ugly.
7	Dutch	Lelijk	LAY-lik	Het gebouw is lelijk.	The building is ugly.
8	Swedish	Ful	FOOL	Huset är fult.	The house is ugly.
9	Norwegian	Stygg	STIG	Huset er stygt.	The house is ugly.
10	Danish	Grim	GREEM	Huset er grimt.	The house is ugly.
11	Finnish	Ruma	ROO-mah	Talo on ruma.	The house is ugly.
12	Icelandic	Ljótt	LYOH-t	Húsið er ljótt.	The house is ugly.
13	Estonian	Inetu	IN-eh-too	Maja on inetu.	The house is ugly.
14	Latvian	Neglīts	NEG-leets	Nams ir neglīts.	The building is ugly.
15	Lithuanian	Bjaurus	BYOW-roos	Namas yra bjaurus.	The house is ugly.
16	Polish	Brzydki	BZHID-kee	Dom jest brzydki.	The house is ugly.
17	Czech	Ošklivý	OSH-klee-vee	Dům je ošklivý.	The house is ugly.
18	Slovak	Škaredý	SHKAH-reh-dee	Dom je škaredý.	The house is ugly.
19	Slovenian	Grd	GURD	Hiša je grda.	The house is ugly.
20	Croatian	Ružan	ROO-zhan	Kuća je ružna.	The house is ugly.
21	Serbian	Ружан	ROO-zhan	Кућа је ружна.	The house is ugly.
22	Bulgarian	Грозен	GROH-zen	Домът е грозен.	The house is ugly.
23	Macedonian	Грд	GURD	Куќата е грда.	The house is ugly.
24	Russian	Некрасивый	nye-krah-SEE-vy	Дом некрасивый.	The house is unattractive.
25	Ukrainian	Некрасивий	nye-krah-SY-vy	Будинок некрасивий.	The building is unattractive.
26	Belarusian	Непрыгожы	nye-pry-GHO-zhy	Дом непрыгожы.	The house is unattractive.
27	Greek	Άσχημος	AS-khee-mos	Ο τοίχος είναι άσχημος.	The wall is ugly.
28	Romanian	Urât	OO-ruht	Casa este urâtă.	The house is ugly.
29	Hungarian	Csúnya	CHOO-nya	A ház csúnya.	The house is ugly.
30	Albanian	I shëmtuar	ee SHUH-mtoo-ar	Ndërtesa është e shëmtuar.	The building is ugly.
31	Turkish	Çirkin	CHEER-keen	Ev çirkin.	The house is ugly.
32	Azerbaijani	Çirkin	CHEER-keen	Ev çirkindir.	The house is ugly.
33	Georgian	მახინჯი	MAH-khin-jee	სახლი მახინჯია.	The house is ugly.
34	Armenian	Տգեղ	TEGH	Տունը տգեղ է։	The house is ugly.
35	Arabic	قبيح	QA-beeh	هذا البيت قبيح.	This house is ugly.
36	Hebrew	מכוער	MEH-koo-ar	הבית מכוער.	The house is ugly.
37	Persian	زشت	ZESHT	این خانه زشت است.	This house is ugly.
38	Hindi	बदसूरत	BUD-soo-rut	यह घर बदसूरत है।	This house is ugly.
39	Urdu	بدصورت	BAD-soo-rat	یہ گھر بدصورت ہے۔	This house is ugly.
40	Bengali	কুৎসিত	KOOT-shit	বাড়িটি কুৎসিত।	The house is ugly.
41	Punjabi	ਬਦਸੂਰਤ	bud-SOOR-ut	ਇਹ ਘਰ ਬਦਸੂਰਤ ਹੈ।	This house is ugly.
42	Gujarati	કદરૂપું	kuh-dh-ROO-pun	આ ઘર કદરૂપું છે.	This house is ugly.
43	Marathi	कुरूप	koo-ROOP	हे घर कुरूप आहे.	This house is ugly.
44	Nepali	कुरूप	koo-ROOP	यो घर कुरूप छ।	This house is ugly.
45	Sinhala	කැත	KAE-tha	මේ ගෙදර කැතයි.	This house is ugly.
46	Tamil	அசிங்கமான	uh-SING-guh-maa-na	இந்த வீடு அசிங்கமானது.	This house is ugly.
47	Telugu	వికారమైన	vee-KAA-rah-may-na	ఈ ఇల్లు వికారంగా ఉంది.	This house is ugly.
48	Kannada	ಕುರೂಪ	koo-ROOP	ಈ ಮನೆ ಕುರೂಪವಾಗಿದೆ.	This house is ugly.
49	Malayalam	വിരൂപമായ	vee-ROO-pa-ma-ya	ഈ വീട് വിരൂപമാണ്.	This house is ugly.
50	Chinese (Mandarin)	丑	CHOH	这座房子很丑。	This house is ugly.
51	Japanese	醜い	MI-GU-TAI	この建物は醜い。	This building is ugly.
52	Korean	못생긴	MOT-seng-gin	그 건물은 못생겼어요.	That building is ugly.
53	Vietnamese	Xấu	SOW	Ngôi nhà này xấu.	This house is ugly.
54	Thai	น่าเกลียด	NAA-gliat	บ้านนี้น่าเกลียด	This house is ugly.
55	Indonesian	Jelek	JEH-lek	Rumah itu jelek.	That house is ugly.
56	Malay	Hodoh	HO-doh	Rumah itu hodoh.	That house is ugly.
57	Filipino	Pangit	PAH-ngit	Pangit ang bahay.	The house is ugly.
58	Javanese	Ala	AH-lah	Omah kuwi ala.	That house is ugly.
59	Burmese	အကျည်းတန်	ah-JEE-tan	ဒီအိမ်က အကျည်းတန်တယ်။	This house is ugly.
60	Khmer	អាក្រក់	AH-krahk	ផ្ទះនេះអាក្រក់។	This house is ugly.
61	Mongolian	Муухай	MOO-khai	Энэ байшин муухай.	This house is ugly.
62	Kazakh	Ұсқынсыз	OOS-kin-syz	Бұл үй ұсқынсыз.	This house is ugly.
63	Uzbek	Xunuk	KHOH-nook	Bu uy xunuk.	This house is ugly.
64	Kyrgyz	Чиркин	CHEER-kin	Бул үй чиркин.	This house is ugly.
65	Swahili	Mbaya	M-BAH-yah	Nyumba hii ni mbaya.	This house is ugly.
66	Somali	Fool xun	FOOL khoon	Gurigan waa fool xun.	This house is ugly.
67	Amharic	አስቀያሚ	as-keh-YAH-mee	ይህ ቤት አስቀያሚ ነው።	This house is ugly.
68	Afrikaans	Lelik	LAY-lik	Die huis is lelik.	The house is ugly.
69	Haitian Creole	Lèd	LED	Kay la lèd.	The house is ugly.
70	Esperanto	Malbela	mal-BEH-la	La domo estas malbela.	The house is ugly.

How to Say Ugly in Different Languages

The most common way to translate “ugly” depends on what you are describing.

For example, Spanish uses feo, French uses laid, German uses hässlich, and Italian uses brutto. In several Asian languages, the word is represented differently because the writing system and grammatical structure are different.

When learning how to say ugly in different languages, it is useful to remember the word together with a noun. This helps you understand adjective agreement and natural sentence structure.

For example:

• Spanish: feo — ugly
• French: laid — ugly
• German: hässlich — ugly
• Turkish: çirkin — ugly
• Arabic: قبيح — ugly
• Hindi: बदसूरत — ugly
• Japanese: 醜い — ugly
• Korean: 못생긴 — ugly

Ugly in All Languages: Why Translations Differ

A direct dictionary translation is not always enough. Many languages change adjectives depending on gender, number, or the noun being described.

French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and several Slavic languages are good examples. The form used for a masculine noun may differ from the form used for a feminine noun.

For instance, Spanish commonly uses feo for masculine nouns and fea for feminine nouns. Romanian similarly changes the adjective depending on grammatical gender.

In English, however, “ugly” generally remains unchanged.

What Does “Ugly” Mean?

The word ugly usually means unattractive or unpleasant in appearance. It can describe a person, object, building, design, animal, picture, or other visible thing.

However, the word can also describe behavior or situations. Expressions such as “an ugly argument” or “an ugly situation” refer to something unpleasant, hostile, or disturbing rather than physical appearance.

Because “ugly” can sound harsh when describing a person, choosing a softer expression such as “unattractive,” “unappealing,” or “not very attractive” may be more appropriate in polite conversation.

Common Uses of Ugly in Everyday English

Here are some common contexts in which English speakers use the word:

Describing appearance:
“The painting is ugly.”

Describing an object:
“That chair is ugly.”

Describing a situation:
“The disagreement became ugly.”

Describing behavior:
“His comments became ugly.”

Describing design:
“I think the new design looks ugly.”

The meaning therefore depends strongly on context.

Ugly Around the World: Cultural and Language Differences

The idea of beauty is not identical across cultures. A word translated as “ugly” may carry different levels of harshness depending on the language and social setting.

Some expressions are commonly used for objects but may sound rude when applied to people. Others can be more direct or emotionally strong.

This is why language learners should not rely only on a dictionary translation. Learning a word through complete sentences gives you a better idea of when and how it is naturally used.

How to Learn Ugly Translations More Easily

If you are studying ugly in all languages, try grouping languages instead of memorizing 70 words at once.

Start with familiar European forms such as feo, laid, brutto, and hässlich. Then move to languages that use different writing systems, such as Arabic, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.

Writing each word by hand, saying it aloud, and using it in a simple sentence can make vocabulary easier to remember.

It is also helpful to learn both the direct translation and a more polite alternative. This is particularly important when describing people.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do you say “ugly” in different languages?

“Ugly” has different translations around the world. Some common examples are feo in Spanish, laid in French, hässlich in German, brutto in Italian, 丑 in Mandarin, 醜い in Japanese, and 못생긴 in Korean.

2. What is “ugly” in Spanish?

The common Spanish translation is feo. The feminine form is fea. For example, “La casa es fea” means “The house is ugly.”

3. What is the Japanese word for ugly?

A common Japanese word is 醜い, which means ugly or unattractive. The appropriate expression can depend on the context and what is being described.

4. What is “ugly” in Arabic?

A common Arabic translation is قبيح. Arabic adjectives can change according to gender and grammatical context, so the exact form may vary in a complete sentence.

5. Is “ugly” rude when describing a person?

It can be. In English, calling someone “ugly” is generally a direct and potentially offensive comment about their appearance. A softer expression such as “unattractive” or “not very attractive” may be more appropriate in polite conversation.

Conclusion

Learning ugly in different languages provides more than a simple vocabulary list. It shows how languages handle adjectives, grammar, pronunciation, cultural context, and different ideas about appearance.

From European words such as feo, laid, and brutto to Asian expressions such as 丑, 醜い, and 못생긴, these ugly translations demonstrate the variety of languages spoken around the world.

Use the 70-language table as a quick reference, but remember that the most natural translation can depend on the sentence, grammatical context, and culture.