What does monstered mean?
Monstered is the past tense and past participle of monster when used as a verb. In its clearest use, it means that a person, thing, or condition has been made monstrous: fear, cruelty, or an overpowering imagination can transform someone into a figure of terror or wrongdoing. The form can also suggest that someone or something has been treated as monstrous, especially in contexts of condemnation or exaggeration. It is uncommon in everyday speech and occurs chiefly in formal or literary writing. Because monstered usually completes an action with the verb monster, its sense is contextual and often carries a strongly negative or theatrical implication. The form should not be confused with the adjective monstrous, which directly describes the terrible or grotesque quality of a person, thing, or act rather than describing a process that produces or reveals that quality.
verb (past tense and past participle)To have made or rendered something monstrous; to have transformed it into a monster. It can also convey the treatment of someone or something as monstrous.
- To have made or rendered something monstrous.
- To have treated someone or something as a monster or as morally monstrous.
"Fear and isolation monstered the young ruler into a tyrant."
"The ruin of his homeland monstered the general into a ruthless warlord."
"Public outrage monstered the fictional company until it became an emblem of corruption."
Sometimes a word contains its own horror: monstered means that a person or thing was made monstrous.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does monstered come from?
Monstered is formed by adding the regular past-tense and past-participle ending to monster. Monster entered Middle English through Old French from Latin monstrum, originally a portent or monstrous sign. The same Latin family includes monstrous and monstrosity, while the related Latin verb monstrare, meaning to show or point out, underlies words such as demonstrate and demonstration.
Related word forms
How monstered is actually used
This is an uncommon, chiefly literary form of the verb monster. It is more often encountered as a past participle in elevated or dramatic writing than in ordinary conversation.
Easily confused with monstered
Monstrous is an adjective describing something as extremely cruel, grotesque, or abnormally large, whereas monstered is a verb form describing the process of making or regarding something as monstrous.