adj
Meaning 1
Hideous or frightful.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
monstrous
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
-
General-American: /ˈmɑnstɹəs/
-
Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmɒnstɹəs/
-
Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
-
CMU ARPABET: M AA1 N S T R AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Enormously large.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- a monstrous height
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Freakish or grotesque.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Of, or relating to a mythical monster; full of monsters.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 5
Marvellous; exceedingly strange; fantastical.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 6
Disabled; crippled. (A severe slur used to describe persons with disabilities.)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: derogatory, offensive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 7
distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- tales of grotesque serpents eight fathoms long that churned the seas
- twisted into monstrous shapes
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: grotesque
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 8
shockingly brutal or cruel
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- murder is an atrocious crime
- a grievous offense against morality
- a grievous crime
- no excess was too monstrous for them to commit
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: atrocious, flagitious, grievous
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 9
abnormally large
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English monstrous, from Old French monstrueuse, monstrüos, from Latin mōnstrōsus. Compare monstruous. By surface analysis, monster + -ous.
Across languages
Translations
84 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Asturian: monstruosu — hideous or frightful
- Bulgarian: чудовищен (čudovišten) — hideous or frightful
- Catalan: monstruós — hideous or frightful
- Finnish: hirveä — hideous or frightful
- Finnish: hirvittävä — hideous or frightful
- French: monstrueux — hideous or frightful
- Galician: monstruoso — hideous or frightful
- German: ungeheuerlich — hideous or frightful
- German: monströs — hideous or frightful
- Greek: τερατώδης (teratódis) — hideous or frightful
- Ancient Greek: ἄπλατος (áplatos) — hideous or frightful
- Ancient Greek: πελώριος (pelṓrios) — hideous or frightful
- Italian: mostruoso — hideous or frightful
- Lithuanian: siaubingas — hideous or frightful
- Occitan: monstruós — hideous or frightful
- Polish: monstrualny — hideous or frightful
- Portuguese: monstruoso — hideous or frightful
- Romanian: monstruos — hideous or frightful
- Romanian: hidos — hideous or frightful
- Romanian: oribil — hideous or frightful
- Russian: чудо́вищный (čudóviščnyj) — hideous or frightful
- Russian: отврати́тельный (otvratítelʹnyj) — hideous or frightful
- Spanish: monstruoso — hideous or frightful
- Swedish: monstruös — hideous or frightful
- Swedish: vidunderlig — hideous or frightful
- Swedish: ohygglig — hideous or frightful
- Swedish: grotesk — hideous or frightful
- Swedish: hisklig — hideous or frightful
- Asturian: monstruosu — enormously large
- Bulgarian: грамаден (gramaden) — enormously large
- Bulgarian: исполински (ispolinski) — enormously large
- Catalan: monstruós — enormously large
- Finnish: valtava — enormously large
- Finnish: suunnaton — enormously large
- French: monstrueux — enormously large
- German: monströs — enormously large
- Greek: τεράστιος (terástios) — enormously large
- Ancient Greek: πέλωρος (pélōros) — enormously large
- Italian: enorme — enormously large
- Italian: gigantesco — enormously large
- Lithuanian: milžiniškas — enormously large
- Polish: monstrualny — enormously large
- Portuguese: monstruoso — enormously large
- Portuguese: gigantesco — enormously large
- Portuguese: gigante — enormously large
- Portuguese: enorme — enormously large
- Romanian: monstruos — enormously large
- Romanian: enorm — enormously large
- Romanian: colosal — enormously large
- Russian: чудо́вищный (čudóviščnyj) — enormously large
- Spanish: monstruoso — enormously large
- Swedish: enorm — enormously large
- Bulgarian: уродлив (urodliv) — freakish or grotesque
- Catalan: monstruós — freakish or grotesque
- Finnish: groteski — freakish or grotesque
- Galician: monstruoso — freakish or grotesque
- German: grotesk — freakish or grotesque
- Greek: τερατώδης (teratódis) — freakish or grotesque
- Greek: τερατόμορφος (teratómorfos) — freakish or grotesque
- Ancient Greek: πελώριος (pelṓrios) — freakish or grotesque
- Lithuanian: išsigimęs — freakish or grotesque
- Polish: potworny — freakish or grotesque
- Portuguese: monstruoso — freakish or grotesque
- Romanian: cumplit — freakish or grotesque
- Romanian: atroce — freakish or grotesque
- Romanian: groaznic — freakish or grotesque
- Spanish: monstruoso — freakish or grotesque
- Swedish: grotesk — freakish or grotesque
- Swedish: vidunderlig — freakish or grotesque
- Bulgarian: чудовищен (čudovišten) — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- Catalan: monstruós — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- Esperanto: monstra — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- Finnish: hirviö- — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- German: monströs — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- German: monsterhaft — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- German: monsterartig — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- Greek: θηριώδης (thiriódis) — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- Ancient Greek: πελώριος (pelṓrios) — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- Ido: monstratra — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- Lithuanian: monstriškas — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- Polish: potworny — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- Romanian: monstruos — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- Russian: чудо́вищный (čudóviščnyj) — of, or relating to a mythical monster
- Spanish: monstruoso — of, or relating to a mythical monster
Real reading context