monstering

British

/ ˈmɒnstərɪŋ /

noun

informal a severe reprimand or scolding; highly critical verbal attack

"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

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.

Madeleine McCann's father is calling for greater scrutiny of the UK's media, saying that his family was subjected to "monstering" by sections of the press.

From BBC • Dec. 10, 2025

"I simply cannot see England losing," wrote Sir Clive Woodward, under a headline predicting a monstering of the Scotland forwards.

From BBC • Feb. 21, 2025

That’s not the most obvious of career moves, but it gets results; Alan basically nips around the world, hauls lazy Titans out of bed, and tells them to start monstering.

From The New Yorker • May 31, 2019

It'll never happen after the preposterous monstering that critics gave John Carter, but Gosling's fellow Canadian has the steely confidence and rough-edged charm to make the part his own.

From The Guardian • Jul. 26, 2013

You failed no one—monsters are the ones who do the monstering, not you.

From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023