What does monstrous mean?
Monstrous is an emphatic adjective meaning extraordinarily large, powerful, or overwhelming. It is often used for physical size, such as a monstrous building, animal, or appetite, but it can also describe something cruel, evil, or morally shocking. The intensity of the word makes it especially effective in journalism, literary description, and forceful speech, where “very large” may sound too ordinary. Monstrous can suggest more than mere size: a monstrous problem may be so severe that it seems overwhelming, while a monstrous act conveys a sense of exceptional cruelty or inhumanity. Its dramatic force comes partly from its history: the word is related to the Latin monstrum, meaning “monster” or “omen,” and originally carried associations of frightening abnormality before developing its modern range of emphatic meanings.
adjectiveExtremely large, great, or powerful. It can also describe something evil, cruel, or exceptionally shocking in its scale or character.
- Extremely large or great
- Evil, cruel, or repulsive
- Exceptionally shocking, severe, or difficult
"The ancient tree cast a monstrous shadow across the meadow."
"The building required a monstrous amount of concrete."
"The committee condemned the decision as a monstrous betrayal of public trust."
Monstrous began as a word for monsters: it ultimately comes from the Latin monstrum, meaning “monster” or “omen.”
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does monstrous come from?
The English word comes from the Latin monstruosus, meaning “monstrous,” “abominable,” or “marvelous,” and ultimately from monstrum, “monster” or “omen.” It entered English in the late medieval period, when it was used especially for something awe-inspiring, hideous, or abnormal. The modern sense of something exceptionally large developed by extension from the idea of monstrous size and power.
Related word forms
How monstrous is actually used
The word is strongly emphatic. In its first sense, it usually suggests that something is unusually or impressively large; in its second, it conveys moral condemnation or vivid horror. “Monstrous” is more rhetorical and dramatic than simply “very large” or “very bad.”
Easily confused with monstrous
“Monstrous” is an adjective describing something exceptionally large, evil, or cruel, whereas “monster” is a noun for a creature or thing regarded as monstrous.