c.1300; that of "ill-tempered" is from 1680s. Among words for this concept, ugly is unusual in being formed from a root for "fear, dread." More common is a compound meaning "ill-shaped" (e.g. Gk. dyseides, L. deformis, Ir. dochrud, Skt. ku-rupa). Another Gmc. group has a root sense of "hate, sorrow" (see
loath). Verb uglify is attested from 1570s. Ugly duckling (1877) is from the story by Hans Christian Andersen, first translated from Danish to English 1846. Ugly American "U.S. citizen who behaves offensively abroad" is first recorded 1958 as a book title.