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homeliness

[hohm-lee] Origin

home·ly

[hohm-lee]
adjective, -li·er, -li·est.
1.
lacking in physical attractiveness; not beautiful; unattractive: a homely child.
2.
not having elegance, refinement, or cultivation.
3.
proper or suited to the home or to ordinary domestic life; plain; unpretentious: homely food.
4.
commonly seen or known.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English homly. See home, -ly

home·li·ness, noun
o·ver·home·li·ness, noun
o·ver·home·ly, adjective
un·home·li·ness, noun
un·home·ly, adjective

homely, homey, homily (see synonym note at the current entry).


1, 2, 3. Simple, homely (homey), homelike, plain imply absence of adornment or embellishment. Something that is simple is not elaborate or complex: a simple kind of dress. In the United States, homely usually suggests absence of natural beauty: an unattractive person almost homely enough to be called ugly. In England, the word suggests a wholesome simplicity without artificial refinement or elegance; since it characterizes that which is comfortable and attractive, it is equivalent to homey: a homely cottage. Homelike also emphasizes comfort and attractiveness, but it conveys less strongly than does homey a sense of intimate security: a homelike interior, arrangement, atmosphere. Something that is plain has little or no adornment: expensive but plain clothing.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Homeliness is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Collins
World English Dictionary
homely (ˈhəʊmlɪ)
 
adj , -lier, -liest
1.  characteristic of or suited to the ordinary home; unpretentious
2.  of a person
 a.  (Brit) warm and domesticated in manner or appearance
 b.  chiefly (US), (Canadian) plain or ugly
 
'homeliness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

homely
c.1300, "of or belonging to home or household, domestic," from M.E. hom "home." Sense of "plain, unadorned, simple" is late 14c., and extension to "having a plain appearance" took place before 1400, but now survives chiefly in U.S., esp. in New England, where it is the usual term for "physically unattractive;"
EXPAND
ugly being typically "ill-tempered."
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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