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ugly duckling

ug·ly duck·ling
U u

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [uhg-lee duhk-ling]
    • /ˈʌg li ˈdʌk lɪŋ/
    • /ˈʌɡli ˈdʌk.lɪŋ/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [uhg-lee duhk-ling]
    • /ˈʌg li ˈdʌk lɪŋ/

Definitions of ugly duckling words

  • noun ugly duckling an unattractive or unpromising child who becomes a beautiful or much-admired adult. 1
  • noun ugly duckling sb ugly who becomes beautiful 1
  • countable noun ugly duckling If you say that someone, especially a child, is an ugly duckling, you mean that they are unattractive or awkward now, but will probably develop into an attractive and successful person. 0
  • noun ugly duckling a person or thing, initially ugly or unpromising, that changes into something beautiful or admirable 0
  • noun ugly duckling a very plain child or unpromising thing that in time becomes or could become beautiful, admirable, important, etc. 0
See all 5 definitions of ugly duckling

Information block about the term

Origin of ugly duckling

First appearance:

before 1880
One of the 23% newest English words
First recorded in 1880-85; after the bird in the story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Ugly duckling

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Ugly duckling

ugly duckling popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 32% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
According to our data about 72% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

ugly duckling usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for ugly duckling

noun ugly duckling

  • fish out of water — any of various cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates, having gills, commonly fins, and typically an elongated body covered with scales.
Just one Synonym for ugly duckling

See also

Matching words

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