ˈhidēəs sometimes ÷ˈhijəs adjective
Etymology: alteration (influenced by such words as courteous )of Middle English hidous, from Old French hisdos, hidous, hideus, from hisde, hide terror
1.
a. : offensive to the sight : gruesome , ugly
one man still living in hideous squalor among the bones of his fellow travelers — Mabel R. Gillis
a hideous congeries of fuming kilns — V.S.Pritchett
writers concerning the warthog generally commence by enlarging upon its hideous appearance — James Stevenson-Hamilton
a lampshade … too hideous for anyone in their senses to buy — W.H.Auden
b. : offensive to another of the senses : frightful , terrible
the hideous gasping struggle the asthmatic woman was making to get her breath — Leslie Ford
during the summer this southward-facing row of buildings must be hideous with heat — G.R.Stewart
c. : appallingly large : monstrous
the great scar on a mountainside left by the racing snow, and the hideous mass of snow and soil and rock … on the valley floor — Russell Henderson
2.
a. : offensive to the mind or to the moral sense : hateful , shocking
monstrous and hideous thoughts — J.C.Powys
a hideous pattern of injustice — Paul Blanshard
b. : embarrassing, ludicrous , dismaying
I am in hideous straits about the … performance of a play of mine — G.B.Shaw
a hideous accident attended the serving of the dessert — Jean Stafford
Synonyms: see ugly