The quality or state of being unpleasant to look at or morally unattractive.
From Old Norse 'uggligr' meaning 'dreadful' or 'fearful,' which came into English as 'ugly.' The suffix '-ness' converts it to a noun representing the abstract quality of being ugly.
Beauty standards have changed dramatically throughout history—what was considered ugly in one era (like pale skin) became beautiful in another (during the Victorian era when tanned skin meant manual labor), showing that ugliness is often culturally constructed rather than absolute.
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