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Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
plug-ugly

"ruffian," 1856, originally in Baltimore, Maryland, from plug (n.), American English slang name for the stovepipe hats then popular among young men, + ugly.

Wiktionary
plug-ugly

a. (context slang English) Very ugly.

WordNet
plug-ugly

n. someone who bullies weaker people [syn: tough guy]

Usage examples of "plug-ugly".

I mean, its not going to make me think youre any less of a dweeb, or more intelligent or less plug-ugly.

The riotous plug-ugly element in Baltimore had been forcibly suppressed by outstate Union troops, but the Maryland legislature remained adamantly secesh, its outright rebel supporters joining with the Peace Democrats who had carried the state of Maryland for Breckinridge in the presidential campaign the year before.

I mean: I took a hell of a shellacking from that plug-ugly in the office.