mon·strous
ˈmän(t)-strəs 
1
: having extraordinary often overwhelming size : gigantic
stuffing a monstrous sandwich down his throat—
Mike Flaherty
Mike Flahertya 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
Louis Untermeyera 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
G. D. Browna monstrous hangover
5
monstrously
adverb
monstrousness
noun
Synonyms
Adjective
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
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 WebMatthew Continetti, National Review, 19 Apr. 2024
Newton has appeared in her fair share of horror flicks, always flirting with the monstrous side.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 19 Apr. 2024
Based on morphology and the location it was found in, the researchers believe the monstrous snake was either terrestrial or semi-aquatic–living in marsh or coastal swamp.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 18 Apr. 2024
Ma wears his white sneakers and crumpled leather jacket as badges of down-to-earth honor and does not hesitate to unload his monstrous punching power at 10-minute intervals.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 22 Feb. 2024
This monstrous cinematic masterpiece was released in 1915, and the Klan reëstablished itself as a newly vindictive force of terror the same year.
—Claudia Roth Pierpont, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024
Joshua Morgan’s monstrous block on Utah’s Deivon Smith cemented USC’s 68-64 win over Utah on Thursday as the Trojans fended off a late Utes rally to secure their sixth straight win in the series.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2024
Scott’s Utopia enjoyed a monstrous 2023, rocketing to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 496,000 album-equivalent units, becoming the rapper’s third chart-topper.
—Rania Aniftos, Billboard, 8 Feb. 2024
In 2023, the internet went ablaze mocking a monstrous AI video of Will Smith eating spaghetti.
—Reece Rogers, WIRED, 2 Apr. 2024
Adjective
Ayatollah Khamenei and his goons look monstrous, craven, inept, and isolated.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 19 Apr. 2024
Newton has appeared in her fair share of horror flicks, always flirting with the monstrous side.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 19 Apr. 2024
Based on morphology and the location it was found in, the researchers believe the monstrous snake was either terrestrial or semi-aquatic–living in marsh or coastal swamp.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 18 Apr. 2024
Ma wears his white sneakers and crumpled leather jacket as badges of down-to-earth honor and does not hesitate to unload his monstrous punching power at 10-minute intervals.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 22 Feb. 2024
This monstrous cinematic masterpiece was released in 1915, and the Klan reëstablished itself as a newly vindictive force of terror the same year.
—Claudia Roth Pierpont, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024
Joshua Morgan’s monstrous block on Utah’s Deivon Smith cemented USC’s 68-64 win over Utah on Thursday as the Trojans fended off a late Utes rally to secure their sixth straight win in the series.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2024
Scott’s Utopia enjoyed a monstrous 2023, rocketing to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 496,000 album-equivalent units, becoming the rapper’s third chart-topper.
—Rania Aniftos, Billboard, 8 Feb. 2024
In 2023, the internet went ablaze mocking a monstrous AI video of Will Smith eating spaghetti.
—Reece Rogers, WIRED, 2 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'monstrous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near monstrous
Cite this Entry
“Monstrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monstrous. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
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