The meanining of the French word spelled in English; jolly zed (?).?

Question

I once discovered in an English Dictionary a French word that describes a woman's beauty as being so striking that it was indistinguishable with hideous-a paradoxical and elusive beauty-I believe it was spelled jolly zed or jolie zed, but it was prounounced 'zollie led'. Help me if you can. Thank you, Rex

Answer 1

It's 'jolie-laid' - beautiful ugly. It is used to describe someone or something that exists outside of Beauty's classical rigours of symmetry and proportion, and is instead made all the more compelling because of it..