Looking for a single noun to describe an ugly looking person or, more broadly, an ugly image

In Iraqi Arabic, when we refer to an ugly person or a bunch of unattractive & unsightly people, we say "look at this shkoolat!" - The latter word literally means image but it has evolved to mean "ugly image" in Iraqi slang. Is there a single word in English that specifically pertains to "an ugly look" or "ugly image"?

• Look at this [insert noun/word]! I can't stand looking at that face!

Best Answer

Gender-neutral single-word nouns for an ugly-looking person or people (via Roget's Thesaurus, #846 Ugly) that are commonly used are eyesore and less often, fright or monster.

A literary term for an ugly person or persons is a grotesque or grotesquerie (plural): "odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre". When referring to a reproduction a grotesque is "a painting or other artistic work with an image of a person that is ugly or unpleasant". Another literary term that is used to describe an ugly person and is especially insulting--yet is also defined in Urban Dictionary (!)--is a caliban: "a man that is ugly as hell and looks like a dog". These words might be too formal.

There are a lot of slang, hyphenated, and two-word terms, but most are context dependent in some way:

• hatchet face: a homely, blunt-featured person; e.g. with a big angular nose and thin lips
• hot mess: a person who looks like a steaming pile of excrement (an alternate meaning, because it is slang, is quite different: a messy but still appealing woman)
• sourpuss: someone with a gloomy, cranky, bitter facial expression; "puss" refers to face and especially someone with an ugly, sour face; sometimes but not necessarily used to describe a woman

The best choice among these alternatives, given the question specifics, is probably eyesore.