as in ugly
unpleasant to look at
along with thousands of other people, we entered our beloved pooch in a contest to find the homeliest dog in the country
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Recent Examples of homely
Here too, a bench with drawers (like the one seen here from Reform) provides a practical and homely solution.
—
Katharina Schwarze, Architectural Digest, 7 Jan. 2025
Her new homely passageway features a doormat, letterbox, a wreath made up of leaves and a plant.
—George Monastiriakos, Newsweek, 30 Dec. 2024
Ford’s shrewd boss, Robert McNamara, was ready to kill the nameplate altogether, facing another homely redesign approved for 1961.
—Raphael Orlove, Robb Report, 27 Feb. 2025
There is no fruit more poetic than the homely apple: Horticulturally, an apple is a kind of pome.
—A.o. Scott, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for homely
Katharina Schwarze, Architectural Digest, 7 Jan. 2025
Her new homely passageway features a doormat, letterbox, a wreath made up of leaves and a plant.
—George Monastiriakos, Newsweek, 30 Dec. 2024
Ford’s shrewd boss, Robert McNamara, was ready to kill the nameplate altogether, facing another homely redesign approved for 1961.
—Raphael Orlove, Robb Report, 27 Feb. 2025
There is no fruit more poetic than the homely apple: Horticulturally, an apple is a kind of pome.
—A.o. Scott, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for homely
Recent Examples of Synonyms for homely
Adjective
-
The stan fighting quickly turned ugly; a fan posted a racist meme of Huda as the police officer who murdered George Floyd, with Olandria’s face pasted on Floyd’s.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
26 Aug. 2025
-
This obviously created some hard feelings and things got very ugly.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Smears on non-sensor areas of the tiara are like bug debris on your hood, aesthetically unpleasing but not harmful.—
Eric Tegler,
Popular Mechanics,
1 Oct. 2019
-
His side's inability to finish off the game against Burnley on the other hand was very unpleasing.—
SI.com,
SI.com,
1 Feb. 2018
Adjective
-
But the promise turned into disappointment during the Rockies’ hideous first half of the season.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
19 July 2025
-
The last two decades spent without a Devil Wears Prada sequel started to feel a little bit like enduring a 20-year hideous skirt convention.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
28 July 2025
Adjective
-
Suddenly the menace is no longer just the question of whether Keith can be trusted, but something far more shocking, grotesque, bizarre.—
Travis Bean,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
-
As Hall began to test the waters with his jailhouse interlocutor (Taron Egerton) by getting ever more grotesque, his voice dropped down a register.—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
20 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Too much control, and the stablecoins will be clunky, unattractive, and irrelevant.—
Zennon Kapron,
Forbes.com,
21 Aug. 2025
-
While most will not severely affect plant life in your yard, some mushrooms are unattractive.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
13 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Homely.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/homely. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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