pretty ugly
Somewhat quite unattractive
Pretty ugly uses pretty as an intensifier meaning fairly or quite, applied paradoxically to ugly.
The phrase works because pretty softens rather than contradicts—something pretty ugly is noticeably unattractive but perhaps not the worst you've seen: The damage to the car was pretty ugly.
The apparent contradiction gives the phrase a wry, understated quality.
- oxymoronSelf-contradicting phrase device
- plainBasic and unremarkable
- homelyUnattractive in appearance
- unattractiveNot pleasing aesthetically
- hideousExtremely unpleasant to see
so-so · mediocre · hot mess · charming · rough · beat-up · worn · shabby · rough around the edges · rugged · weathered · quirky · odd · peculiar · unconventional · interesting · character · diamond in the rough
- oxymoronsbittersweet, deafening silence, living dead, act naturally, alone together
- Nonsense & Oxymoronsparadox, contradiction, nonsense, gibberish, balderdash
- paradoxescatch-22, Zeno's paradox, Zeno's paradoxes, causal loop, bootstrap paradox