Meaning & use
ugly cry
An intense, unrestrained bout of crying marked by contorted, unattractive facial expressions.
See it in a sentence
The movie's ending gave the whole theater a proper ugly cry.
She had a full ugly cry after reading her grandmother's old letters.
A note on using this word
Ugly cry is informal and often humorous, and it also works as a verb, as in ugly-crying during a wedding toast.
Words with a similar meaning
bawlsob
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
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