Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Shockingly hideous or frightful in appearance.
- adjective Of or resembling a fabulous monster.
- adjective Exceptionally large; enormous.
- adjective Extremely immoral or cruel.
- adjective Archaic Deviating greatly from the norm in appearance or structure; abnormal.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Exceedingly; extremely; wonderfully: as, monstrous difficult.
- Of unnatural formation; deviating greatly from the natural form or structure; out of the common course of nature: as, a monstrous birth or production.
- Enormous; huge; prodigious; unparalleled.
- Shocking; hateful; horrible: as, a monstrous delusion.
- Full of monsters or strange creatures.
- Synonyms Abnormal.
- Prodigious, vast, colossal, stupendous.
- Wicked, Atrocious, etc. (see
atrocious ).
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb Exceedingly; very; very much.
- adjective obsolete Marvelous; strange.
- adjective Having the qualities of a monster; deviating greatly from the natural form or character; abnormal.
- adjective Extraordinary in a way to excite wonder, dislike, apprehension, etc.; -- said of size, appearance, color, sound, etc.
- adjective Extraordinary on account of ugliness, viciousness, or wickedness; hateful; horrible; dreadful.
- adjective rare Abounding in monsters.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
hideous orfrightful - adjective
enormously large - adjective
freakish orgrotesque - adjective of, or relating to a
mythical monster
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective shockingly brutal or cruel
- adjective abnormally large
- adjective distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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If I were assembling an all-star touring band called "The Monsters of Jazz," the first guy I'd call would be James Carter: At 42, the saxophonist has chops, technique, concepts and energy enough to justify several definitions of the term "monstrous."
Classic Keys, Vital Organs Will Friedwald 2011
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He said he saw the car, a red four-door, coming and the "spreader," which he called a "monstrous vehicle," locked up its brakes and "was deafening, just screeching."
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He said he saw the car, a red four-door, coming and the "spreader," which he called a "monstrous vehicle," locked up its brakes and "was deafening, just screeching."
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Tennis star Martina Hingis (ph) abruptly retired today while denying what she called monstrous accusations that she tested positive for cocaine during this year's Wimbledon Tennis Tournament.
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He said he saw the car, a red four-door, coming and the "spreader," which he called a "monstrous vehicle," locked up its brakes and "was deafening, just screeching."
USATODAY.com News 2011
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Among what they called your monstrous follies, which was the worst, the most damnable?
The Wandering Jew — Volume 06 Eug��ne Sue 1830
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Among what they called your monstrous follies, which was the worst, the most damnable?
The Wandering Jew — Complete Eug��ne Sue 1830
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The only reason I don't consider Card monstrous is because I think he's sick.
"What do YOU do when your favorite author turns out to be a puppy-kicker?" Roger Sutton 2009
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While certain monstrous characters might not be exactly protagonists, Gwen's conflict is more intangible than, say, making sure she stakes the right vampire.
'I, Zombie' is new creature feature from Vertigo Comics 2010
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It is also asked whether we are to believe that certain monstrous races of men, spoken of in secular history, have sprung from Noah's sons, or rather, I should say, from that one man from whom they themselves were descended.
September 2nd, 2009 m_francis 2009
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word monstrous
Mrs Jennings soon came in. "Oh! Colonel," said she, with her usual noisy cheerfulness. "I am monstrous glad to see you-..."
July 9, 2010