mountainous

adjective

moun·​tain·​ous ˈmau̇n-tə-nəs 

ˈmau̇nt-nəs

1

: containing many mountains

2

: resembling a mountain : huge

mountainously adverb

mountainousness noun

Synonyms

• astronomical
• astronomic
• Brobdingnagian
• bumper
• colossal
• cosmic
• cosmical
• cyclopean
• elephantine
• enormous
• galactic
• gargantuan
• giant
• gigantesque
• gigantic
• grand
• herculean
• heroic
• heroical
• Himalayan
• huge
• humongous
• humungous
• immense
• jumbo
• king-size
• king-sized
• leviathan
• mammoth
• massive
• mega
• mighty
• monster
• monstrous
• monumental
• oceanic
• pharaonic
• planetary
• prodigious
• super
• super-duper
• supersize
• supersized
• titanic
• tremendous
• vast
• vasty
• walloping
• whacking
• whopping

Examples of mountainous in a Sentence

the seemingly mountainous obstacles he had to overcome while growing up

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile, Colorado's Christmas Day will be cooler than usual, with snow expected to fall in the mountainous regions. —Amanda Castro, Newsweek, 24 Dec. 2024

The Sky Islands are a mountainous archipelago stretching from around Tucson down through southeastern Arizona into northern Mexico. —Shaun McKinnon, The Arizona Republic, 23 Dec. 2024

Sign up Assad, the son of an Alawite farmer from Syria's mountainous coastal region, was one of a group of military officers in the Ba'ath Party, an Arab nationalist secular socialist movement. —The Week Uk, theweek, 22 Dec. 2024

Mosley died in early June 2024 after he got lost during a mountainous walk and collapsed on the island of Symi in the Aegean Sea, only one day into his holiday with his wife and friends. —Caroline Frost, Deadline, 22 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English mounteynous, borrowed from Anglo-French muntaignus, from muntaigne, mountaigne mountain + -us -ous

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

mountainous

adjective

moun·​tain·​ous ˈmau̇nt-ᵊn-əs 

-nəs

1

: having many mountains

2

: resembling a mountain : huge