# The ugliest word **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 22, 2009, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844 "2009-07-22T08:43:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/1 "2009-07-22T08:43:22Z")
I have decided that the ugliest one-syllable word in the English language is “eighth.” A _gh_ right next to a _th_, and that awful Germanic A-sounding _ei_ to boot. The whole word looks like something I half-barfed-half-coughed the morning after a night boozing. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/2 "2009-07-22T09:08:54Z")
Ugliest looking or ugliest sounding? Actually I think eighth is a sweet soft-sounding word and interesting looking. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/3 "2009-07-22T10:17:29Z")
My vote is for ‘autochthonous,’ though ‘baluchitherium’ is also pretty ugly. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/4 "2009-07-22T10:25:27Z")
Humungous. OK it’s not one syllable but even so it’s a horrible word ---
**Author:** ![TorpedoTed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/da6949/32.png) [@TorpedoTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TorpedoTed)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/5 "2009-07-22T12:18:43Z")
Dollop, easily. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/6 "2009-07-22T12:49:01Z")
Machicolation. I have no idea how to pronounce it, and it’s no longer in any dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/7 "2009-07-22T13:26:08Z")
I love eighth, because my sister missed it in a spelling bee once. AHAHAHAHA. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/8 "2009-07-22T13:45:58Z")
> [@uglybeech](#): > > Ugliest looking or ugliest sounding? This is a very important point which should be clarified. OP seems to think that _eighth_ has three sounds. OP also seems to think that there is something particularly “Germanic” about the vowel /ei/, though I don’t know why–it’s in all kinds of non-Germanic languages, such as Spanish, French, Italian, Korean, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/9 "2009-07-22T14:10:19Z")
Ache Isn’t spelled the way it sounds, has that harsh Germanic sound… and almost gives you an ache just to say it. ---
**Author:** ![Grasshopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@Grasshopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grasshopper)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/10 "2009-07-22T14:12:02Z")
Ugliest 3 syllable: _pluperfect_ Plu sounds like a mix between poo and flu. It makes me feel ill just thinking about it. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/11 "2009-07-22T14:14:50Z")
Poultice. I’m glad it’s archaic and doesn’t come up in conversation much, because I’m creeped out by just the thought of saying it. (Why no, I don’t much like the word “poultry”, either. Must be at least partly a sound thing.) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/12 "2009-07-22T14:28:48Z")
Puberty. As evidenced in [Attack of the Killer Tomatoes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_of_the_Killer_Tomatoes). ---
**Author:** ![Sudo\_Intellectual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sudo\_Intellectual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudo_Intellectual)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/13 "2009-07-22T14:39:41Z")
Moist. It gives me shivers to say it. Similarly, Ointment. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/14 "2009-07-22T14:40:00Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I have decided that the ugliest one-syllable word in the English language is “eighth.” > > A _gh_ right next to a _th_, and that awful Germanic A-sounding _ei_ to boot. The whole word looks like something I half-barfed-half-coughed the morning after a night boozing. Germanic A-sounding “ei”? In German, “ei” is pronounced like a long “i” in English, not like an “a” at all. 😕 I like the word “eighth”. Offhand, I can’t think of the ugliest word in the English language (for me). ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/15 "2009-07-22T15:06:42Z")
Halitosis? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/16 "2009-07-22T15:21:03Z")
Meal. Runner up: Vagina ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/17 "2009-07-22T18:14:22Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Machicolation. I have no idea how to pronounce it, and it’s no longer in any dictionary. Except for [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com), wikipedia, [tfd.com](http://tfd.com), Merriam-Webster? Pulchritude. Such an ugly word, and its actual meaning is the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/18 "2009-07-22T18:33:14Z")
My vote is for “rural.” It’s impossible to say! ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/19 "2009-07-22T18:46:32Z")
Belly, bean, and happy, to start with. [Here’s a whole thread of them.](http://mixsig.net/nexus/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=319&) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/20 "2009-07-22T19:01:33Z")
> [@Sudo\_Intellectual](#): > > Moist. It gives me shivers to say it. I like it. It makes me think of fresh brownies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844.md?page=2)