# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/21 "2009-07-22T19:05:42Z")
I don’t about “ugly”, exactly, but “panties” is the worst of all possible words. Ick. ---
**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, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/22 "2009-07-22T19:06:15Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I don’t about “ugly”, exactly, but “panties” is the worst of all possible words. Ick. Rivaled only by “manties.” ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/23 "2009-07-22T19:23:29Z")
Turd and fart. Much prefer almost any other term, eg: dookie, grogan, poot, trouser trombone, etc. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/24 "2009-07-22T20:02:38Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Halitosis? This word is especially bad because anyone with halitosis who says this word will project his bad breath onto you. I’ve always been squicked out by the word “phlegm”, which is why the surname of “Fleming” evokes a similar reaction. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/25 "2009-07-22T20:36:08Z")
Pustule ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/26 "2009-07-22T21:18:52Z")
Smegma ---
**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, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/27 "2009-07-22T21:32:03Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > My vote is for “rural.” It’s impossible to say! Just be glad you’re not a rural juror. ---
**Author:** ![stanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@stanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stanger)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/28 "2009-07-22T21:52:29Z")
It isn’t one syllable, but I think the ugliest word in the English language is metastasize. ---
**Author:** ![Other\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Other\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Other_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/29 "2009-07-22T21:53:05Z")
I don’t like the word **facetious.** Someone I no longer like used that word too often, so now it is quite ugly and grating toward me. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/30 "2009-07-22T21:58:19Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I have decided that the ugliest one-syllable word in the English language is “eighth.”…the whole word looks like something I half-barfed-half-coughed the morning after a night boozing. I completely agree. I work on 8th Ave., and have to spell it out for certain documents. It never seems correct after I’ve typed it. It’s the “ghth” sequence. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/31 "2009-07-22T22:15:48Z")
butt ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/32 "2009-07-23T16:51:36Z")
> [@Other\_Dreams](#): > > I don’t like the word **facetious.** Someone I no longer like used that word too often, so now it is quite ugly and grating toward me. Oh, but it has all the vowels once, and in order! facetiously abstemiously Maybe if you just look at its beauty but don’t say it out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/33 "2009-07-23T17:49:21Z")
_hawks and spits_ PHLEGM ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/34 "2009-07-23T17:50:39Z")
I’m so ladylike 😉 ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/35 "2009-07-23T18:14:11Z")
**Book** - sorry, I know we all like books here but the word sounds like something a caveman would say when he gets a piece of old meat stuck in his throat. Say it a few times out loud and see what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Other\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Other\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Other_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/36 "2009-07-24T04:30:23Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Oh, but it has all the vowels once, and in order! > > facetiously > abstemiously > > Maybe if you just look at its beauty but don’t say it out loud. How can I hate something when there are people like Gigi in the world, pointing out the beauty in things? Oy vey iz mir! I concede that, that is a beautiful thing to see…but as you say, I still will not say it aloud! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/37 "2009-07-24T12:04:18Z")
“Salve”. Looks stupid. Sounds stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/38 "2009-07-24T13:08:45Z")
Yogh. ---
**Author:** ![VanillaGorilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@VanillaGorilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanillaGorilla)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/39 "2009-07-24T13:29:53Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > Ache > > Isn’t spelled the way it sounds, has that harsh Germanic sound… and almost gives you an ache just to say it. “Ache” sounds germanic? Sure, if you pronounce it the way a german would, but in english? That doesn’t seem to make sense to me. But then again, my first language is a germanic one, so I guess we have slightly different points of reference here.. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844/40 "2009-07-24T14:52:58Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Meal. > > Runner up: > Vagina Your second-place is my first-place winner. The word just seems … wrong. It’s okay on paper or screen, but when said aloud, the sounds just don’t have the right connotation, I guess. I don’t know how to explain its wrongness to me. Or it could be because of that old SNL sketch with Phil Hartman laying down the audio track for the books on tape version of Madonna’s “Sex” book. The way he said “vagina” is seared into my auditory memory. Soooo not sexy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ugliest-word/503844.md?page=1)