monstrous

[mon-struhs]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR monstrous ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

frightful or hideous, especially in appearance; extremely ugly.

shocking or revolting; outrageous: monstrous cruelty.

extraordinarily great; huge; immense: a monstrous building.

deviating grotesquely from the natural or normal form or type.

having the nature or appearance of a fabulous monster.

adverb

extremely; exceedingly; very.

Origin of monstrous

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

Related formsmon·strous·ly, adverbmon·strous·ness, noun

Synonyms for monstrous

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR monstrous ON THESAURUS.COM

1, 2. horrible, atrocious. 3. See gigantic.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for monstrously

grotesquely, heinously, hideously, badly, brutally, cruelly

Examples from the Web for monstrously

Contemporary Examples of monstrously

The back story here is that reporting on the details of competing budget proposals is monstrously boring.
The Gov't's Shutdown Sham
Howard Kurtz
March 2, 2011

Historical Examples of monstrously

Amy, has it never struck you that somebody is monstrously polite to Mrs General?'
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
Monstrously I was desired to drink to the happiness of the groom.
Ruggles of Red Gap
Harry Leon Wilson
It planted itself in the centre of the nave and grew there monstrously.
Abbe Mouret's Transgression
Emile Zola
He had intended to honour her and she had monstrously dishonoured him.
Kept in the Dark
Anthony Trollope
Well, you did it well--monstrously well, I will say--for you never flinched an eyelash.
The Young Franc Tireurs
G. A. Henty

British Dictionary definitions for monstrously

monstrous

adjective

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

(of plants and animals) abnormal in structure

outrageous, atrocious, or shockingit is monstrous how badly he is treated

hugea monstrous fire

of, relating to, or resembling a monster

Derived Formsmonstrously, adverbmonstrousness, noun

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

Word Origin and History for monstrously

monstrous

adj.

mid-15c., "unnatural, deviating from the natural order, hideous," from Middle French monstrueux, from Latin monstruosus "strange, unnatural, monstrous," from monstrum (see monster). Meaning "enormous" is from c.1500; that of "outrageously wrong" is from 1570s. Earlier form monstruous (late 14c., from Old French monstruous) was "very common in the 16th c." [OED].