monstrosity

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noun mon·stros·i·ty \ män-ˈsträ-sə-tē \

Definition of monstrosity

plural monstrosities

1 a :a malformation of a plant or animal

b :something deviating from the normal :freak

2 :the quality or state of being monstrous

the monstrosity of the tsunami's devastation

3 a :an object of great and often frightening size, force, or complexity

this monstrosity, the atomic bomb

b :an excessively bad or shocking example

The new mall is an architectural monstrosity.

See monstrosity defined for English-language learners

See monstrosity defined for kids

Examples of monstrosity in a Sentence

Did you see the new mall? It's a monstrosity.
any monstrosities born to the farm animals were sent to the agricultural college for study

Recent Examples of monstrosity from the Web

Harvey’s fearsome white mass filled the panoramic view – a monstrosity of wind and rain.

— sarah kaplan, sacbee, "NASA’s Johnson Space Center closes amid Harvey’s brutal winds and rain," 28 Aug. 2017
Three adults could have split this monstrosity and walked away happy.

— andy staples, SI.com, "Malik Zaire Is Ready to Revive Florida's Offense—but He Needs to Win a Job First," 7 Aug. 2017
Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen lamented the conspicuous absence of Germans from a story that's about running away from them — as well as any hint of the wider monstrosity of the Nazi regime.

— ishaan tharoor, Washington Post, "‘Dunkirk’ and the West’s myopia about World War II," 7 Aug. 2017
What other buildings in the area are made of glow-in-the-dark circles, to no end, like the sign of infinity, the time our neighborhood will be dealing with this monstrosity?

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "Architecture and Religious Bias: A California Case Study," 20 July 2017
Massive blowback in the next 48 hours will determine the fate of this immoral monstrosity.

— stephen koff, cleveland.com, "Senate releases healthcare bill, and critics mobilize against it," 22 June 2017
Her stoic breakdown in the face of evil Cooper's interior monstrosity.

— corey atad, Esquire, "The Characters in Twin Peaks Are Slowly Figuring Out What the Hell Is Going On," 19 June 2017
Clevo doesn't have a great track record with thin-and-light laptops, instead creating 17-inch monstrosities that often get rebranded and sold on by the likes of Scan.

— mark walton, Ars Technica, "Nvidia Max-Q laptops: Impressively thin, but industrial design needs work," 5 June 2017
But by far their biggest draw was a caloric monstrosity the likes of which has never been seen.

— sebastian montes, Pomerado News, "County fair will revive San Diego’s ‘Wild West’ roots," 1 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'monstrosity.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of monstrosity

15th century

monstrosity Synonyms

Synonyms

abnormality, anomaly, monster, freak

Antonyms

average, norm, normal, par, standard

Related Words

abortion, malformation, miscreation, mutant, mutation; character, crackbrain, crackpot, crank, eccentric, kook, nut, oddball, screwball, weirdo; aberrant, deviant; individualist, maverick, nonconformist; curiosity, peculiarity, singularity; aberration, exception, irregularity, oddity, rarity

Near Antonyms

sample, specimen; commonplace, usual

MONSTROSITY Defined for English Language Learners

monstrosity

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noun

Definition of monstrosity for English Language Learners

: something (such as a building) that is very large and ugly

MONSTROSITY Defined for Kids

monstrosity

play

noun mon·stros·i·ty \ män-ˈsträ-sə-tē \

Definition of monstrosity for Students

plural monstrosities

:something that is large and ugly

Medical Dictionary

monstrosity

play

noun mon·stros·i·ty \ män-ˈsträs-ət-ē \

medical Definition of monstrosity

plural monstrosities

1 :a malformation of a plant or animal

2 :the quality or state of deviating greatly from the natural form or character

—

monstrous

play \ˈmän(t)-strəs\ adjective

Learn More about monstrosity

See words that rhyme with monstrosity Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for monstrosity Spanish Central: Translation of monstrosity Nglish: Translation of monstrosity for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of monstrosity for Arabic speakers

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monstrosity

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Examples of monstrosity in a Sentence

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First Known Use of monstrosity

monstrosity Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

MONSTROSITY Defined for English Language Learners

monstrosity

Definition of monstrosity for English Language Learners

MONSTROSITY Defined for Kids

monstrosity

Definition of monstrosity for Students

Medical Dictionary

monstrosity

medical Definition of monstrosity

monstrous

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