ugly up
C1 informal separable transitive
In simple words
Make something or someone look worse or uglier on purpose.
Literal meaning: To make something ugly.
Meanings
1 C1 informal
To deliberately make someone or something look unattractive, often for a role, purpose, or effect.
"The makeup artist was asked to ugly up the lead actress for her role as a homeless woman."
Grammar: separable
2 C1 informal
To ruin the appearance of something, making it visually unpleasant.
"That new billboard has really uglied up the whole street."
Grammar: separable
Usage notes
Mostly used in American informal English. Common in entertainment and fashion contexts where actors or subjects are deliberately made to look less attractive. The opposite of 'pretty up' or 'glam up'.
Commonly used with
face costume building character set
Forms
Base
ugly up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
uglies up
he/she/it
Past simple
uglied up
yesterday
Past participle
uglied up
have + pp
-ing form
uglying up
continuous
Understand "ugly up" better
Try:
Real video examples
Video examples are being collected. Check back soon.
Synonyms
disfigure mar make unattractive uglify
Want to master this phrasal verb?
Practice "ugly up" on Looplines