What Does “An Ugly of Walruses” Mean?

“Ugly” is a blunt, affectionately unflattering collective noun, in the same spirit as “a gaze of raccoons” or other terms chosen more for humor than accuracy. Walruses, with their wrinkled hide, enormous tusks, and bristly whiskers, have long been an easy target for this kind of good-natured teasing, even though those very features are finely tuned adaptations, thick blubber and skin for insulation, tusks for hauling out onto ice and establishing dominance, that make walruses remarkably well suited to a brutal Arctic environment.

Unlike more literal collective nouns describing real behavior, “ugly” tells you nothing about walrus biology and everything about human perception. It sits alongside the more common and more neutral “herd” as an alternate, unofficial name that’s stuck around largely because of its cheeky irreverence rather than any naturalist tradition.

Example: “The tour guide laughed and pointed out an ugly of walruses piled up on the rocks below, tusks and all.”

Related: Collective Nouns for Mammals · A Herd of Walruses · What Is a Group of Walruses Called?