monstrous

[mon-struhs]

adjective

1. frightful or hideous, especially in appearance; extremely ugly.

   Synonyms: atrocious, horrible

2. shocking or revolting; outrageous.

   monstrous cruelty.

   Synonyms: atrocious, horrible

3. extraordinarily great; huge; immense.

   a monstrous building.

4. deviating grotesquely from the natural or normal form or type.

5. having the nature or appearance of a fabulous monster.

adverb

1. extremely; exceedingly; very.

monstrous

/ ˈmɒnstrəs /

adjective

1. abnormal, hideous, or unnatural in size, character, etc

2. (of plants and animals) abnormal in structure

3. outrageous, atrocious, or shocking

   it is monstrous how badly he is treated

4. huge

   a monstrous fire

5. of, relating to, or resembling a monster

Other Word Forms

• monstrously adverb
• monstrousness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of monstrous¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Latin word mōnstrōsus. See monster, -ous

Synonym Study

See gigantic.

Example Sentences

Kay wants to punish Michael for his treatment of her, for his casual cruelty, for his slavish devotion to a monstrous profession.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This, along with the roar of the crowd, encouraged Allen to push on and land another monstrous right hook, but it was not enough.

Read more on BBC

With barely any time offscreen, Byrne has the opportunity to flit between monstrous and tender, turning in what may very well be the year’s finest performance in its most singularly affecting film.

Read more on Salon

Behaving like an duchess while living in a suburb, Bucket's monstrous social-climbing schemes were ultimately doomed to failure - while she battled to maintain her dignity.

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"He was absolutely slammed down by the architectural establishment," said Clarke of the King's attacks on some modern design plans, such as in 1984 calling a proposed extension to the National Gallery a "monstrous carbuncle".

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Related Words

• atrocious 
• dreadful 
• egregious 
• freakish 
• frightful 
• grotesque 
• gruesome 
• heinous 
• hideous 
• horrendous 
• horrible 
• horrifying 
• inhuman 
• intolerable 
• obscene 
• odious 
• outrageous 
• preposterous 
• terrible 
• vicious