Ugly Duckling (Noun)
Meaning
An ugly or unpromising child who grows into a beautiful or worthy person.
Classification
Nouns denoting people.
Examples
- She was the ugly duckling of the family, always struggling to meet her parents' expectations, but she blossomed into a confident and successful businesswoman.
- The movie is a classic example of the ugly duckling genre, where a hideous-looking creature emerges from a swan's egg and finds acceptance among its peers.
- A social outcast in high school, the awkward teenager eventually became the ugly duckling who reinvented himself as a charismatic and renowned artist.
- In Hans Christian Andersen's famous fairy tale, the ugly duckling is ridiculed by other animals until he becomes a majestic swan.
- The wallflower at the high school dance eventually turned out to be the ugly duckling who bloomed into a radiant beauty after a few months of college.