adjective
-
of or relating to mountains
a mountainous region
-
like a mountain, esp in size or impressiveness
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mountainous
First recorded in 1400–50, mountainous is from the late Middle English word mounteynous. See mountain, -ous
Vocabulary lists containing mountainous
South America - Middle School
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Eastern Europe - Introductory
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East Asia - Middle School
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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.
Around 2,200 people from more than 70 countries work at the site in Leoben, a former iron mining centre of 28,000 people in the mountainous southern state of Styria.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
The change in elevation from the waterfront at sea level to Genoa’s mountainous hinterland approaches 6,000 feet, and variations between adjoining neighborhoods can be as much as several hundred feet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
The framework incorporates a lightweight Transformer architecture designed to account for hydrological memory and delayed effects within mountainous catchments.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
The Madrid region is currently under a red weather warning, with temperatures expected to reach 35C in mountainous areas and 38C in other parts of the community.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
We flew southeast, over the dry, flat plains of the Orange Free State and the green and mountainous Cape peninsula.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
