ill-looking vs ropy

ill-looking

adj
  • having an unhealthy appearance 

  • unattractive; ugly 

  • of evil or sinister appearance 

ropy

adj
  • Of poor quality; in poor health. 

  • Slimy, as after the action of Enterobacter aerogenes in syrup. 

  • Capable of forming rope-like or thread-like structures. 

  • Resembling rope in appearance or texture, used especially of muscles that are thick or hard to the touch. 

How often have the words ill-looking and ropy occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )