monstrous

1 of 2

adjective

mon·​strous ˈmän(t)-strəs 

1

: having extraordinary often overwhelming size : gigantic

stuffing a monstrous sandwich down his throat

—Mike Flaherty

a monstrous skyscraper

2

a

: extraordinarily ugly or vicious : horrible

a monstrous crime

monstrous mayhem

b

: shockingly wrong or ridiculous

the legend assumed monstrous proportions

—Louis Untermeyer

a monstrous miscalculation

3

: deviating greatly from the natural form or character : abnormal

a monstrous melon

4

: very great

—used as an intensive

a monstrous hammering on his door

—G. D. Brown

a monstrous hangover

5

a

: having the qualities or appearance of a monster

came face to face with a monstrous creature

—Lester David

b

obsolete : teeming with monsters

6

obsolete : strange, unnatural

monstrously adverb

monstrousness noun

monstrous

2 of 2

adverb

chiefly dialectal

: very, extremely

a monstrous long raft

—Mark Twain

Synonyms

Adjective

• deformed
• distorted
• malformed
• misshapen
• shapeless

Adverb

• achingly
• almighty
• archly
• awful
• awfully
• badly
• beastly
• blisteringly
• bone
• colossally
• corking
• cracking
• damn
• damned
• dang
• deadly
• desperately
• eminently
• enormously
• especially
• ever
• exceedingly
• exceeding
• extra
• extremely
• fabulously
• fantastically
• far
• fiercely
• filthy
• frightfully
• full
• greatly
• heavily
• highly
• hugely
• immensely
• incredibly
• intensely
• jolly
• majorly
• mightily
• mighty
• mortally
• most
• much
• particularly
• passing
• rattling
• real
• really
• right
• roaring
• roaringly
• seriously
• severely
• so
• sore
• sorely
• spanking
• specially
• stinking
• such
• super
• supremely
• surpassingly
• terribly
• that
• thumping
• too
• unco
• uncommonly
• vastly
• very
• vitally
• way
• whacking
• wicked
• wildly

Choose the Right Synonym for monstrous

monstrous, prodigious, tremendous, stupendous mean extremely impressive.

monstrous implies a departure from the normal (as in size, form, or character) and often carries suggestions of deformity, ugliness, or fabulousness.

the monstrous waste of the project

prodigious suggests a marvelousness exceeding belief, usually in something felt as going far beyond a previous maximum (as of goodness, greatness, intensity, or size).

made a prodigious effort and rolled the stone aside

tremendous may imply a power to terrify or inspire awe.

the tremendous roar of the cataract

stupendous implies a power to stun or astound, usually because of size, numbers, complexity, or greatness beyond description.

a stupendous volcanic eruption

Examples of monstrous in a Sentence

Adjective

It was monstrous of him to keep the truth from them all those years.

a monstrous melon that was clearly not fit to eat

Adverb

a monstrous pretty gal, she was

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

In 2023, the internet went ablaze mocking a monstrous AI video of Will Smith eating spaghetti. —Reece Rogers, WIRED, 2 Apr. 2024

Thai brand Felo unveiled a monstrous touring bike called the Tooz at this year’s Bangkok International Motor Show, according to New Atlas. —Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 1 Apr. 2024

Pete devoured it all at a concerning pace, a monstrous crow picking over life’s endless open dumpster. —Corbin Smith, Rolling Stone, 31 Mar. 2024

The celebratory image shows the planet’s Tharsis region, an area known for monstrous volcanoes. —Amanda Kooser, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024

The ultimatum was salient given that Tesla’s monstrous valuation is at least partly based on hopes that Musk would eventually move the company beyond cars to make it into a technology juggernaut. —Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 22 Mar. 2024

These house-and-garden scenes use complacency to parody monstrous politics. —Armond White, National Review, 20 Mar. 2024

Ship sizes have absolutely grown monstrous over the years. —Allan Post, The Conversation, 26 Mar. 2024

Icon of the Seas is neither hellacious, horrendous, impersonal, monstrous nor lumbering. —David Dickstein, Orange County Register, 2 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 6

Adverb

1569, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

monstrous

adjective

mon·​strous

ˈmän(t)-strəs

1

: unusually large : gigantic

2

: very ugly or vicious : horrible

3

: shockingly wrong or ridiculous

4

: very different from the usual form : abnormal

monstrously adverb