- homely
- c.1300, "of or belonging to home or household, domestic," from M.E. hom "home." Sense of "plain, unadorned, simple" is late 14c., and extension to "having a plain appearance" took place before 1400, but now survives chiefly in U.S., esp. in New England, where it is the usual term for "physically unattractive;" ugly being typically "ill-tempered."