«زَيِّ الْعَمَلِ الرَّدِي»

The saying likens a person to the wicked deeds someone has committed and must face at the final reckoning. Just as a sinner would dread meeting the record of their own misconduct, the people around this person dread meeting them, finding nothing welcome in the encounter.

In practice it brands someone as unpleasant to look at and hard to bear: grim-faced, gloomy, oppressive in company, and disliked by others. The target is not only appearance but the whole off-putting impression a person gives, which makes others want to avoid them.

Said mockingly about someone whose looks and bearing others find repellent: a sour, scowling, burdensome person whose presence weighs on those around them. Used directly, it is a wounding insult. Best suited to informal talk, joking among intimates, or venting behind someone's back, never polite address.