丑陋
choǔ loù · HSK 7
ugly
👹 丑 = ugly; 陋 = hill (阝) + ugly (丑) — double-ugly, no escape
Both characters carry the meaning ugly. 陋 literally wraps 丑 with the hill radical, as if ugliness is heaped up like a mound. Say chow-low and think cheap and low-grade.
丑 — hand 又 with claw-like nail strokes
丑 originally pictured a hand (又) with extended fingernails or claws gripping something, suggesting twisting or binding. It became the second Earthly Branch and a name for the ox in the zodiac. The modern 'ugly' meaning comes from later borrowing — it was adopted as the simplified form of unrelated 醜.