monstrous
Americanadjective
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frightful or hideous, especially in appearance; extremely ugly.
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shocking or revolting; outrageous.
monstrous cruelty.
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extraordinarily great; huge; immense.
a monstrous building.
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deviating grotesquely from the natural or normal form or type.
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having the nature or appearance of a fabulous monster.
adverb
adjective
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abnormal, hideous, or unnatural in size, character, etc
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(of plants and animals) abnormal in structure
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outrageous, atrocious, or shocking
it is monstrous how badly he is treated
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huge
a monstrous fire
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of, relating to, or resembling a monster
Related Words
See gigantic.
Other Word Forms
- monstrously adverb
- monstrousness noun
Etymology
Origin of monstrous
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Latin word mōnstrōsus. See monster, -ous
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.
Only Byrne’s flashes of humor and desperately flailing humanity keep her on this side of monstrous.
From Los Angeles Times
At this point, all we can hope is that his inherent cowardice will win out over his monstrous ego one more time.
From Salon
Tennyson plunged into a monstrous grief that afflicted him for years.
He called ICE’s decision “monstrous,” pledging to seek details.
From Salon
Van Der Beek communicates an unmistakable feeling that there is a good person somewhere inside his character, dying to break free of the tortured fate his monstrous doppelganger has created for him.
From Salon
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.
