monstrous

English

Etymology

From Middle English monstrous, from Old French monstrueuse, monstrüos, from Latin mōnstrōsus. Compare monstruous.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑnstɹəs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒnstɹəs/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: mon‧strous

Adjective

monstrous (comparative more monstrous, superlative most monstrous)

1. Hideous or frightful.
   • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:

     So bad a death argues a monstrous life.

2. Enormously large.

   a monstrous height

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 21:

     The chiding billovv ſeemes to pelt the cloudes, / The vvinde ſhak'd ſurge, vvith high and monſtrous mayne, / Seemes to caſt vvater, on the burning Beare, […]

   • 1901 December 20, “The Ringing of Plants”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record‎, volume 4, number 21, page 663:

     Possibly monster pumpkins may become still more monstrous by the shoots being ringed, and so may other vegetables and fruits where quality is of less importance than mere size.

3. Freakish or grotesque.
   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 3, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:

     The irregular and monstrous births

   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The rule and exercises of holy living:

     He, therefore, that refuses to do good to them whom he is bound to love […] is unnatural and monstrous in his affections.

4. Of, or relating to a mythical monster; full of monsters.
   • 1637, John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC:

     Where thou, perhaps, under the whelming tide / Visitest the bottom of the monstrous world.

5. (obsolete) Marvellous; exceedingly strange; fantastical.
   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     The whole story was monstrous, and only worthy of the superstitious days in which it was written.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:large

Derived terms

• monstrous agreement
• monstrous moonshine

Translations

hideous or frightful

Asturian: monstruosu Bulgarian: чудовищен (bg) (čudovišten) Catalan: monstruós Finnish: hirveä (fi), hirvittävä (fi) French: monstrueux (fr) Galician: monstruoso (gl) German: ungeheuerlich (de), monströs (de) Greek: τερατώδης (el) (teratódis) Ancient: ἄπλατος (áplatos), πελώριος (pelṓrios) Italian: mostruoso (it) Lithuanian: siaubingas Occitan: monstruós (oc) Polish: monstrualny (pl) Portuguese: monstruoso (pt) Romanian: monstruos (ro), hidos (ro), oribil (ro) Russian: чудо́вищный (ru) (čudóviščnyj), отврати́тельный (ru) (otvratítelʹnyj) Spanish: monstruoso (es) Swedish: monstruös (sv), vidunderlig (sv), ohygglig (sv), grotesk (sv), hisklig (sv)

enormously large

Asturian: monstruosu Bulgarian: грамаден (bg) (gramaden), исполински (bg) (ispolinski) Catalan: monstruós Finnish: valtava (fi), suunnaton (fi) French: monstrueux (fr) German: monströs (de) Greek: τεράστιος (el) (terástios) Ancient: πέλωρος (pélōros) Italian: enorme (it), gigantesco (it) Lithuanian: milžiniškas Polish: monstrualny (pl) Portuguese: monstruoso (pt), gigantesco (pt), gigante (pt), enorme (pt) Romanian: monstruos (ro), enorm (ro), colosal (ro) Russian: чудо́вищный (ru) (čudóviščnyj) Spanish: monstruoso (es) Swedish: enorm (sv)

freakish or grotesque

Bulgarian: уродлив (bg) (urodliv) Catalan: monstruós Finnish: groteski (fi) Galician: monstruoso (gl) German: grotesk (de) Greek: τερατώδης (el) (teratódis), τερατόμορφος (el) (teratómorfos) Ancient: πελώριος (pelṓrios) Lithuanian: išsigimęs Portuguese: monstruoso (pt) Romanian: cumplit (ro), atroce (ro), groaznic (ro) Spanish: monstruoso (es) Swedish: grotesk (sv), vidunderlig (sv)

of, or relating to a mythical monster

Bulgarian: чудовищен (bg) (čudovišten) Catalan: monstruós Esperanto: monstra Finnish: hirviö- German: monströs (de), monsterhaft, monsterartig Greek: θηριώδης (el) (thiriódis) Ancient Greek: πελώριος (pelṓrios) Ido: monstratra (io) Lithuanian: monstriškas Romanian: monstruos (ro) Russian: чудо́вищный (ru) (čudóviščnyj) Spanish: monstruoso (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Chinese: Mandarin: (please verify) 怪異／怪异 (zh) (guàiyì) Dutch: (please verify) monsterlijk (nl) Greek: Ancient: (please verify) τερατώδης (teratṓdēs) Irish: (please verify) anchúinseach Japanese: (please verify) 巨大 (ja) (きょだい, kyodai) Korean: (please verify) 기괴망측한 (gigoemangcheukhan) Latin: (please verify) mōnstrōsus

Middle English

Adjective

monstrous

1. Alternative form of monstruous