monstrous Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite abnormally large
  2. adjective satellite shockingly brutal or cruel
    grievous; atrocious; flagitious.
    • murder is an atrocious crime
    • a grievous offense against morality
    • a grievous crime
    • no excess was too monstrous for them to commit
  3. adjective satellite distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous
    grotesque.
    • tales of grotesque serpents eight fathoms long that churned the seas
    • twisted into monstrous shapes

WordNet

Mon"strous adjective
Etymology
OE. monstruous, F. monstrueux, fr. L. monstruosus, fr. monstrum. See Monster.
Definitions
  1. Marvelous; strange. Obs.
  2. Having the qualities of a monster; deviating greatly from the natural form or character; abnormal; as, a monstrous birth. Locke.
    He, therefore, that refuses to do good to them whom he is bound to love ... is unnatural and monstrous in his affections. Jer. Taylor.
  3. Extraordinary in a way to excite wonder, dislike, apprehension, etc.; -- said of size, appearance, color, sound, etc.; as, a monstrous height; a monstrous ox; a monstrous story.
  4. Extraordinary on account of ugliness, viciousness, or wickedness; hateful; horrible; dreadful.
    So bad a death argues a monstrous life. Shak.
  5. Abounding in monsters. R.
    Where thou, perhaps, under the whelming tide Visitest the bottom of the monstrous world. Milton.
Mon"strous adverb
Definitions
  1. Exceedingly; very; very much. "A monstrous thick oil on the top." Bacon.
    And will be monstrous witty on the poor. Dryden.

Webster 1913