homely as a hedge fence

adjective

Having no physically attractive characteristics, but not blatantly ugly; very plain in appearance.

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Meanings

adjective
  1. USdatedidiomaticHaving no physically attractive characteristics, but not blatantly ugly; very plain in appearance.

    This Subaru station wagon was as homely as a hedge fence and cramped as a corn crib, but it was the immediate hit of every ski town in the country.

    1988 December, Denise McCluggage, "Top Snow Country Vehicles," Snow Country Magazine, p. 71 (Google preview) (retrieved 7 April 2019)
    2 more examples

    "I must have a husband!" said Miss Crooks, "what shall I do? Here I am hard upon my 25th year, and they say I am as homely as a hedge fence to boot! what shall I do?"

    1850 October 7, "A Trifling Mistake," The Adams Sentinal (Gettysbury, Pennsylvania), p. 1 (Google news archive)

    "Louise had been sweet-tempered but homely as a hedge fence," Charlotte observes, "[…] pools of wrinkles widened out over her face like somebody had thrown a pebble in it."

    2008 July 12, Anna Mundow, “Legends of Troy”, in Irish Times, retrieved 07 Apr 2019
Cite this entry
APA

homely as a hedge fence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homely%20as%20a%20hedge%20fence

MLA

“homely as a hedge fence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homely%20as%20a%20hedge%20fence. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “homely as a hedge fence,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homely%20as%20a%20hedge%20fence.

Source: homely as a hedge fence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.