Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

big enough and ugly enough

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.34 in modern English

Syllables: big e-nough and ug-ly e-nough
IPA

38

Scrabble Score

22

Letters

4

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Mature, grown-up, old enough (with the implication that one can look after oneself and make one's own decisions).

Informal

Example Sentences

"Her aunt answered, 'You just go off my child. There are two young women here who are big enough and ugly enough to help me with the dishes.'"
"Don't worry – he'll come home. He's big enough and ugly enough to look after himself."

Etymology

From the notion that youth, especially children, have a more beautiful and endearing appearance, thus maturity ought to make one not only bigger, but uglier too; though, in some cases, the opposite is true (see ugly duckling and its associated fairy tale, which illustrate such a case).

Usage

Informal

Inflected Forms

big and ugly enough (alternative)

Phrases

big boy big girl

Frequently Paired Words

big boy big girl

Questions

What does big enough and ugly enough mean?: Mature, grown-up, old enough (with the implication that one can look after oneself and make one's own decisions).
Where does big enough and ugly enough come from?: From the notion that youth, especially children, have a more beautiful and endearing appearance, thus maturity ought to make one not only bigger, but uglier too; though, in some cases, the opposite is true (see ugly duckling and its associated fairy tale, which illustrate such a case).

How to pronounce big enough and ugly enough

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