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

• distorted

Adverb

• extremely
• incredibly
• damned
• very
• terribly
• damn
• highly
• badly
• too
• severely
• so
• jolly
• desperately
• really
• super
• full
• mighty
• seriously
• that
• real
• such
• far
• wildly
• wicked
• greatly
• awful

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

But Ariadne also has an emotional connection to her monstrous kin and genuinely wants better for him. —John Wiswell, People.com, 3 July 2025

Kurtz also leads all qualified rookies with a monstrous .489 slugging percentage. —Sean Campbell july 3, Sacbee.com, 3 July 2025

These winds should be powerful enough to blow the outer layers of these monstrous stars into space. —Robert Lea, Space.com, 3 July 2025

On a tiny Caribbean island near Costa Rica, a megalomaniacal tycoon (Richard Attenborough) has set up an animal preserve that is half theme park, half monstrous Bronx Zoo. —David Denby, Vulture, 3 July 2025

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