Home Dictionary Mmonstrous

monstrous

When used to describe size, 'monstrous' often acts as a stronger version of 'huge' or 'massive'. It suggests that the size is so great it feels unnatural. When describing behavior or crimes, the word carries a heavy emotional weight. It doesn't just mean 'bad', but implies something that shocks the conscience of society. In some older or very formal contexts, it can be used as an adverb (meaning 'very'), though this is rare in modern daily conversation.

💬Casual Conversation

🎬Tuesday afternoon, Sarah is staring at her monitor while Mark is hiding in the breakroom.

Mark

David just dumped a monstrous pile of edits on my desk. I'm totally swamped.

Sarah

Sucks for you. He already tried to offload his entire project on me.

💡

Mark uses 'monstrous' to describe the overwhelming size and amount of work (Definition 3). He uses the slang 'swamped' to mean he is overwhelmed with tasks, while Sarah uses the phrasal verb 'offload' to describe David transferring unwanted work to her.

Meanings

adjective

Having a frightening, unnatural, or giant appearance; resembling a monster.

"The creature in the lake was described as a monstrous serpent with glowing eyes."

adjective

Shockingly evil, cruel, or morally wrong.

"The dictator's monstrous crimes against humanity were documented by the international court."

adjective

Extremely large in size, amount, or degree.

"The project required a monstrous amount of funding to complete on schedule."

Last Updated: May 22, 2026•Report an Error