ugly American

English

Alternative forms

• Ugly American

Etymology

• From the novel The Ugly American (1958) by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

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Noun

ugly American (plural ugly Americans)

1. (idiomatic) An American government representative, diplomat, tourist, or businessperson who, in dealing with people of other nations, is haughty, rude, meddlesome, or jingoistic.
   • 1999 January 17, Maureen Dowd, "Liberties: Soft-Porn Nation," New York Times (retrieved 17 July 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" (film review), The Star (Canada) (retrieved 17 July 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," Independent (UK) (retrieved 17 July 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," Washington Post (retrieved 17 July 2017):

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