monstrosity

noun

mon·​stros·​i·​ty män-ˈsträ-sə-tē 

plural monstrosities

1

a

: a malformation of a plant or animal

b

: something deviating from the normal : freak

2

: the quality or state of being monstrous

the monstrosity of the tsunami's devastation

3

a

: an object of great and often frightening size, force, or complexity

this monstrosity, the atomic bomb

b

: an excessively bad or shocking example

The new mall is an architectural monstrosity.

Synonyms

• abnormality
• anomaly
• freak
• monster

Examples of monstrosity in a Sentence

Did you see the new mall? It's a monstrosity.

any monstrosities born to the farm animals were sent to the agricultural college for study

Recent Examples on the Web

During the director’s favorite scene from the film, Halley’s camcorder floats through zero gravity and slowly turns to reveal the suffering monstrosity the intrepid journalist and flawed mom character has become. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 7 Oct. 2024

Zoya was erasing the line between the sacred and the vile, the Jewish artifact and the anti-Semitic image, then polishing the resulting monstrosities to a very high shine. —Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2024

That is best embodied by the game’s assault rifle, which was nothing less than a steampunk monstrosity. —Jack King, Vulture, 11 Apr. 2024

Trump's lawyers opposed having prosecutors file such a lengthy set of unanswered allegations, quadruple the length of typical filings as a monstrosity and a false hit piece. —Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 3 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

monstrosity

noun

mon·​stros·​i·​ty män-ˈsträs-ət-ē 

plural monstrosities

1

: the condition of being monstrous

2

: something monstrous : monster