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

Derived Forms

• ˈmonstrousness, noun
• ˈmonstrously, adverb

Other Words From

• monstrous·ly adverb
• monstrous·ness 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

Twenty-two-year-old wunderkind Luka Dončić started his Olympic career with a monstrous performance, one rarely witnessed in international basketball.

From Ozy

Enter Epstein, an old business contact of her father’s, whose short-lived romance with Maxwell gave way to a very different, allegedly monstrous kind of mutually beneficial arrangement.

From Time

Far too often, traditional narrative storytelling has worked to further marginalize people who are already marginalized in society by framing aspects of their identities as monstrous, inherently evil, or Other.

From Vox

The more layers of this scam you peel back, the more monstrous it looks.

From Washington Post

One does not last weeks on this monstrous regimen without spiritual help.

From Washington Post

“You know, I never had a monstrous ego,” Mailer confides to a friend in l987.

From The Daily Beast

All I had in those days was a monstrous lack of ego which therefore required huge injections of actorly ego and misled people.

From The Daily Beast

Even Godzilla, the ugliest star attraction of them all, is bigger than ever, both at the box office and in sheer monstrous height.

From The Daily Beast

“In the camp no-one knows themselves,” muses the monstrous commandant.

From The Daily Beast

And decency is our great, guiding strength as we face such monstrous foes as ISIS.

From The Daily Beast

She was in a dream of oily odours and monstrous iron constructions, dominated by the grand foreman: and Edwin was in the dream.

From Project Gutenberg

Tressan was monstrous ill-at-ease, and his face lost a good deal of its habitual plethora of colour.

From Project Gutenberg

There are great and wonderful works: a variety of beasts, and of all living things, and the monstrous creatures of whales.

From Project Gutenberg

The little name sounded so incongruous; it did not suit the big gaunt woman who had almost a touch of the monstrous in her.

From Project Gutenberg

The one thing that loomed big in my mind's eye was the monstrous injustice of the accusation.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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