Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One that is considered ugly or unpromising at first but has the potential to become beautiful or admirable in maturity.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A young person who is ugly, but who is expected to become beautiful as they mature.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an ugly or unpromising child who grows into a beautiful or worthy person

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[After The Ugly Duckling, a story by Hans Christian Andersen.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From a fairy tale of a duckling, considered ugly, that matures into a magnificent swan.

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Examples

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