After an incubation period of 1 day to 2 weeks, chancroid begins with a small bump that becomes an ulcer within a day of its appearance. The ulcer characteristically:

• Ranges in size dramatically (from 1/8 inch to 2 inches across)
• Is painful
• Has sharply defined borders
• Has irregular or ragged borders
• Has a base that is covered with a grey or yellowish-grey material
• Has a base that bleeds easily if traumatized or scraped

About half of infected men have only a single ulcer. Women frequently have 4 or more ulcers. The ulcers appear in specific locations.

Common locations in men (most common to least common) are:

• Foreskin (prepuce)
• Groove behind the head of the penis (coronal sulcus)
• Shaft of the penis
• Head of the penis (glans)
• Opening of the penis (urethral meatus)
• Scrotum

In women the most common location for ulcers is the labia majora. "Kissing ulcers" may develop. These are ulcers that occur on opposing surfaces of the labia. Other areas such as the labia minora, perianal area, and inner thighs may also be involved. The most common symptoms in women are pain with urination and pain with intercourse.

The initial ulcer may be mistaken as a chancre, the typical sore of primary syphilis.

Approximately half of the infected individuals will develop enlargements of the inguinal lymph nodes, the nodes located in the fold between the leg and the lower abdomen.

Half of those who develop swelling of the inguinal lymph nodes will progress to a point where the nodes rupture through the skin producing draining abscesses. The swollen lymph nodes and abscesses are often referred to as buboes.