noun
-
an outrageous or ugly person or thing; monster
-
the state or quality of being monstrous
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of monstrosity
1545–55; < Late Latin mōnstrōsitās, equivalent to Latin mōnstrōs ( us ) monstrous + -itās -ity
Explanation
A monstrosity is something so hideous that you can hardly stand to look at it, like a zombie or an ugly modern building. A monster can certainly be described as a monstrosity, but so can anything that is as frightening or disgusting as a monster. A dictator's cruel regime is a monstrosity, and so is a three-headed fish. The word comes from the Latin word for monster, monstrum, with a root, monere, that means "warn," from the tradition of interpreting monstrous, deformed animals as omens — or warnings — of bad luck.
Vocabulary lists containing monstrosity
The Pigman
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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
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Butterfly Yellow
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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.
See Examples For:
Wilmot Fraser, the sole Black member of the city history commission, called the monument a monstrosity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
Petro earlier called the threat of a 100 percent tariff "a monstrosity" and threatened to withdraw Colombia from the Andean Community of Nations, a trade bloc which also includes Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.
From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026
If only he’d caught half the heat as Wasserman, he might have retreated long enough to spare us from his juvenile X posts or his next monstrosity of a car design.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026
Besides, there are other aspects to Murphy’s monstrosity, which he co-created with Jon Robin Baitz and Joe Baken of the narratively abortive “Grotesquerie,” worth pondering.
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2025
He went left, and the building loomed ahead of him, a gray, white, and black monstrosity.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Obtaining an ugly sweater used to mean digging around in thrift stores or the backs of closets to find sometimes handmade monstrosities embellished with all sorts of corny Christmas creatures.
From Slate ● Dec. 12, 2024
These monstrosities will smother beaches and erase views of the sea, but they are not high enough to block another 2011-sized wave.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 22, 2024
These can build up over time, creating giant monstrosities known as "fatbergs": horrible clumps of wipes, hair, hardened oils and other waste.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2023
The topic of motherhood and the monstrosities of the perinatal sphere — conception, pregnancy, birth and pregnancy loss — has become a fully fledged pop culture genre.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2023
“I reckon everyone has those monstrosities in the city, ey?”
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
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.
