monstrous
Americanadjective
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frightful or hideous, especially in appearance; extremely ugly.
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shocking or revolting; outrageous.
monstrous cruelty.
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extraordinarily great; huge; immense.
a monstrous building.
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deviating grotesquely from the natural or normal form or type.
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having the nature or appearance of a fabulous monster.
adverb
adjective
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abnormal, hideous, or unnatural in size, character, etc
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(of plants and animals) abnormal in structure
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outrageous, atrocious, or shocking
it is monstrous how badly he is treated
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huge
a monstrous fire
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of, relating to, or resembling a monster
Synonym Usage
See gigantic.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of monstrous
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Latin word mōnstrōsus. See monster, -ous
Explanation
Monstrous is an adjective that describes something gross or shocking. It can refer to the size, shape, or general look of something. If your face or body is monstrous, it's misshapen and horrifying to look at. The word monstrous describes something that you'd like to avoid looking at, if at all possible. The word comes from the Latin monstruosus, which means "unnatural, deviating from the natural order, hideous." When discussing size, monstrous means that something or someone is so huge it's frightening. Monstrous can also describe someone or something that's extremely cruel or brutal, like a monstrous dictator or monstrous lies.
Vocabulary lists containing monstrous
"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from all 4 Acts
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Metamorphosis
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Words from Shakespearean Insults
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the Monstrous Seas gallery, both fossils and three-dimensional models represent the marine creatures that formerly swam below.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2025
Given that it expands on an essay Dederer wrote for the Paris Review, “What Do We Do With the Art of Monstrous Men?”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2023
Monstrous U.S. wildfires, along with record drought across the U.S.
From Reuters • Jul. 26, 2021
All the gaming was supported by a loyal following of graduate students, among them Simon Norton, with whom Dr. Conway published the Monstrous Moonshine conjecture, investigating an elusive symmetry group that lives in 196,883 dimensions.
From New York Times • Apr. 15, 2020
Monstrous roars echoed in the gloom, but Annabeth couldn’t tell where they came from.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
