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monstrous

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adverb

chiefly dialect

Synonym Chooser

How is the word monstrous different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of monstrous are prodigious, stupendous, and tremendous. While all these words mean "extremely impressive," monstrous implies a departure from the normal (as in size, form, or character) and often carries suggestions of deformity, ugliness, or fabulousness.

the monstrous waste of the project

In what contexts can prodigious take the place of monstrous?

In some situations, the words prodigious and monstrous are roughly equivalent. However, prodigious suggests a marvelousness exceeding belief, usually in something felt as going far beyond a previous maximum (as of goodness, greatness, intensity, or size).

made a prodigious effort and rolled the stone aside

Where would stupendous be a reasonable alternative to monstrous?

Although the words stupendous and monstrous have much in common, stupendous implies a power to stun or astound, usually because of size, numbers, complexity, or greatness beyond description.

a stupendous volcanic eruption

When is it sensible to use tremendous instead of monstrous?

The words tremendous and monstrous are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, tremendous may imply a power to terrify or inspire awe.

the tremendous roar of the cataract

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of monstrous
Adjective
This is, of course, a tremendously unfair characterization of the lunch lady, who, given her profession of feeding hungry children, ought to be stereotyped as saintly rather than monstrous. Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2025 Hurricane Erin strengthened into a monstrous category 5 storm in the Atlantic Ocean on Aug. 16, and is expected to bring widespread danger along the East Coast, even if it isn't forecast to make landfall. Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 16 Aug. 2025 The meeting turns violent when Tyler transforms into his monstrous alter ego, killing her and setting his sights on Wednesday. Allison Degrushe Published, EW.com, 15 Aug. 2025 Geologists realized these formations pointed to monstrous floods from melting glaciers during the last gasps of the Ice Age. Becky Cooper, Travel + Leisure, 12 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for monstrous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for monstrous
Adjective
  • By contrast, Rose of Nevada is much more of an out-and-out genre piece than either, drifting closer to horror than the director ever has before, while retaining his haunting, glitchy, hand-distressed style, the cinematic equivalent of artist Francis Bacon’s distorted face paintings.
    Damon Wise, Deadline, 30 Aug. 2025
  • To a large extent, this is anchored in America’s distorted and biased metropolitan form—a single metropolitan economy made up of literally hundreds of politically independent governments, especially small suburbs surrounding major central cities.
    Richard McGahey, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Galpin’s storyline does conclude in Episode 2 of Wednesday Season 2, Part 1 as the lonely man dies a gruesome death, discovered by Wednesday.
    Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 8 Aug. 2025
  • And part of his interaction with the public had become a rather gruesome tradition: Osbourne would throw pieces of raw meat and animal parts, including intestines and liver.
    Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 23 July 2025
Adjective
  • If confirmed, this finding would mean the gigantic blue-green ice planet would have 29 moons.
    Jorge Garay, Wired News, 22 Aug. 2025
  • His gigantic pants, shin pads and elbow pads are all bespoke, too.
    James Mirtle, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • This obviously created some hard feelings and things got very ugly.
    R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 26 Aug. 2025
  • The stan fighting quickly turned ugly; a fan posted a racist meme of Huda as the police officer who murdered George Floyd, with Olandria’s face pasted on Floyd’s.
    Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 26 Aug. 2025
Adverb
  • Dern’s casting as Hank's mom was extremely meaningful to Butler, whose mother Lori died of cancer in 2014.
    Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 31 Aug. 2025
  • Having a healthy Parsons ready to rock for the team's matchup against the Lions will be extremely important.
    Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • In the end, the book circles back to the Jewish search for a home after the catastrophe of World War II and, in just a few potent pages, the consequent suffering of the Palestinians, magnified by the current horrific destruction underway in Gaza.
    Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2025
  • But Indy got hit with a two-by-four with Tyrese Haliburton’s horrific Achilles tear in the first quarter of Game 7 of the finals.
    David Aldridge, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • By then the nation is forecast to be facing a huge spike in power outages if sufficient new energy is not released into the U.S. electric grid.
    Noël Fletcher, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
  • Data centers and artificial intelligence are using huge amounts of electricity to power the largest area of growth in our economy.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • But the promise turned into disappointment during the Rockies’ hideous first half of the season.
    Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 19 July 2025
  • The last two decades spent without a Devil Wears Prada sequel started to feel a little bit like enduring a 20-year hideous skirt convention.
    EW.com, EW.com, 28 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Monstrous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monstrous. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.

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