ugly American

English

Alternative forms

• Ugly American

Etymology

From the novel The Ugly American (1958) by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick (though the character in the novel is only physically ugly and otherwise morally upright).

Pronunciation

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Noun

ugly American (plural ugly Americans)

1. (idiomatic) An American government representative, tourist, or businessperson who, in dealing with people of other nations, is haughty, rude, meddlesome, chauvinistic, or jingoistic.
   • 1999 January 17, Maureen Dowd, “Liberties: Soft-Porn Nation”, in New York Times‎^[1], retrieved July 17, 2017:

     The Republican House managers were acting like ugly Americans abroad who think that if they talk loudly and slowly, foreigners will understand them.

   • 2010 April 8, Linda Barnard, “The Eclipse: Ghosts among the living”, in The Star‎^[2], retrieved July 17, 2017:

     Quinn throws himself into the role of the vain, heavy-drinking bully with gusto […] . He's precisely the kind of ugly American people cringe upon meeting—loud, demanding and arrogant, a bottle of Scotch never far from his elbow.

   • 2011 May 2, Rupert Cornwell, “America must end its 9/11 mindset”, in Independent‎^[3], retrieved July 17, 2017:

     The US […] turned into an overweening global bully […] . In the persons of Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, the Ugly American was back.

   • 2017 June 2, Dana Milbank, “Trump, the caricature of the ugly American, demeans us all”, in Washington Post‎^[4], retrieved July 17, 2017:

     For the last fortnight, Trump has presented himself to the world as the caricature of the ugly American: loud, boorish and ill-informed.

   • 2023 January 20, Dan Bilefsky, “American Expatriates in Paris Wish Emily Cooper Would Go Home”, in The New York Times‎^[5], →ISSN:

     “We try so hard not to be the ugly American, and here is Emily with her terrible accent and garish clothing, shouting at French people in English and expecting them to understand,” she said.