Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

Frankenstein

American  
[frang-kuhn-stahyn] / ˈfræŋ kənˌstaɪn /

noun

  1. a person who creates a monster or a destructive agency that cannot be controlled or that brings about the creator's ruin.

  2. Also called Frankenstein monster.  the monster or destructive agency itself.

Frankenstein British  
/ ˈfræŋkɪnˌstaɪn /

noun

  1. a person who creates something that brings about his ruin

  2. Also called: Frankenstein's monster.  a thing that destroys its creator

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Frankenstein Cultural  

  1. (1818) A novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. The title character, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, makes a manlike monster from parts of cadavers and brings it to life by the power of an electrical charge. Frankenstein's monster is larger than most men and fantastically strong.

Discover More

Frequently the subject of horror films, the monster is usually pictured with an oversized square brow, metal bolts in his neck and forehead, and greenish skin. People often mistakenly refer to the monster, rather than to his creator, as “Frankenstein.”

Other Word Forms

  • Frankensteinian adjective

Etymology

Origin of Frankenstein

First recorded in 1830–40; after a character in Mary Shelley's novel of the same name (1818)

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.

The Mexican filmmaker, whose "Frankenstein" is competing this year for the best picture Oscar, in 2022 said animation created by AI is an "insult to life itself."

From Barron's

This spiritual sequel to “Frankenstein” is a romantic tale of obsession, possession and fantasy — adjectives that also apply to its filmmaker, Maggie Gyllenhaal, who expends massive quantities of energy jolting it to life.

From Los Angeles Times

Then there’s “Frankenstein” author Mary Shelley, taking possession of another person’s body and voice.

From Los Angeles Times

Curiously, this was not a prevailing gripe about “Frankenstein,” despite del Toro changing the ending, altering the inciting events of the Creature’s creation and adding new characters while changing the textual behavior of key others.

From Salon

One Battle After Another won the most awards with six, followed by I Swear, Sinners and Frankenstein, which got three each, while Hamnet won two.

From BBC

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.