monstrous

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑnstɹəs/
• IPA^(key): /ˈmɒnstɹəs/
• 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

   a monstrous ox

3. Freakish or grotesque.
   • (Can we date this quote by John Locke and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     a monstrous birth

   • (Can we date this quote by Jeremy Taylor and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     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.
   • (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

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

5. (obsolete) Marvellous; strange.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:gigantic

Translations

hideous or frightful

• Asturian: monstruosu
• Bulgarian: зверски (bg) (zverski), чудовищен (bg) (čudovišten)
• Catalan: monstruós
• Finnish: hirveä (fi), hirvittävä (fi)
• French: monstrueux (fr)
• Galician: monstruoso
• German: ungeheuerlich (de), monströs (de)
• Greek: τερατώδης (el) (teratódis)

  Ancient: ἄπλατος (áplatos)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: mostruoso (it)
• Lithuanian: siaubingas m
• Occitan: monstruós
• Portuguese: monstruoso (pt)
• Romanian: monstruos (ro), hidos (ro), oribil (ro)
• Russian: чудо́вищный (ru) (čudóviščnyj), отврати́тельный (ru) (otvratítelʹnyj)
• Spanish: monstruoso (es)

enormously large

• Asturian: monstruosu
• Bulgarian: зверски (bg) (zverski), чудовищен (bg) (čudovišten)
• Catalan: monstruós
• Finnish: valtava (fi), suunnaton (fi)
• French: monstrueux (fr)
• German: monströs (de)
• Greek: τεράστιος (el) (terástios)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: enorme (it), gigantesco (it)
• Lithuanian: milžiniškas m
• Portuguese: monstruoso (pt), gigantesco (pt), gigante (pt), enorme (pt)
• Romanian: enorm (ro), colosal (ro)
• Russian: чудо́вищный (ru) (čudóviščnyj)
• Spanish: monstruoso (es)

freakish or grotesque

• Bulgarian: зверски (bg) (zverski), чудовищен (bg) (čudovišten)
• Catalan: monstruós
• Finnish: groteski (fi)
• Galician: monstruoso
• Greek: τερατώδης (el) (teratódis), τερατόμορφος (el) (teratómorfos)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lithuanian: išsigimęs m
• Portuguese: monstruoso (pt)
• Romanian: cumplit (ro), atroce (ro), groaznic (ro)
• Spanish: monstruoso (es)

of, or relating to a mythical monster

• Bulgarian: зверски (bg) (zverski), чудовищен (bg) (čudovišten)
• Catalan: monstruós
• Greek: θηριώδης (el) m or f (thiriódis)

  Ancient Greek: πελώριος (pelṓrios)

• Ido: monstratra
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lithuanian: monstriškas m
• 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), ^{(please verify)} 怪异 (zh) (guàiyì)

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} monsterlijk (nl)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ^{(please verify)} τερατώδης (teratṓdēs)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} anchúinseach
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 巨大 (ja) (きょだい, kyodai)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 기괴망측한 (gigoemangcheukhan)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} mōnstrōsus

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Middle English

Adjective

monstrous

1. Alternative form of monstruous