monstrous
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English monstrous, from Old French monstrueuse, monstrüos, from Latin mōnstrōsus. Compare monstruous.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmɑnstɹəs/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmɒnstɹəs/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Hyphenation: mon‧strous
Adjective
[edit]monstrous (comparative more monstrous, superlative most monstrous)
- 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.
- 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[1], 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- (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
[edit]- See also Thesaurus:large
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]hideous or frightful
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enormously large
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freakish or grotesque
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of, or relating to a mythical monster
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- 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
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Middle English
[edit]Adjective
[edit]monstrous
- Alternative form of monstruous
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *-trom
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
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