monster

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mon·ster

(mŏn′stər)

a. An imaginary or legendary creature, such as a centaur or Harpy, that combines parts from various animal or human forms.

b. A creature having a strange or frightening appearance.

2. Archaic An organism that has structural defects or deformities.

3. Informal A very large animal, plant, or object.

4. One who inspires horror or disgust: a monster of selfishness.

adj.

Informal Extremely large; monstrous: a monster hit at the box office; ate a monster steak.

[Middle English monstre, from Old French, from Latin mōnstrum, portent, monster, from monēre, to warn; see men- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

monster

(ˈmɒnstə)

1. (Classical Myth & Legend) an imaginary beast, such as a centaur, usually made up of various animal or human parts

2. (Biology) a person, animal, or plant with a marked structural deformity

3. a cruel, wicked, or inhuman person

a. a very large person, animal, or thing

b. (as modifier): a monster cake.

vb (tr)

5. informal to criticize (a person or group) severely

6. (General Sporting Terms) sport Austral and NZ to use intimidating tactics against (an opponent)

[C13: from Old French monstre, from Latin monstrum portent, from monēre to warn]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mon•ster

(ˈmɒn stər)

n.

1. any animal or human grotesquely deviating from the normal shape, behavior, or character.

2. a person who excites horror by wickedness, cruelty, etc.

3. any creature so ugly or monstrous as to frighten people.

4. any animal or thing huge in size.

5. a legendary creature having a body with both human and animal features, or the features of various animals in combination, as a centaur, griffin, or sphinx.

6. a markedly malformed animal or plant.

7. a grossly anomalous fetus or infant, esp. one that is not viable.

adj.

8. huge; monstrous.

[1250–1300; Middle English monstre < Latin mōnstrum portent, monster =mon(ēre) to warn + -strum n. suffix]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	monster - an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts imaginary being, imaginary creature - a creature of the imagination; a person that exists only in legends or myths or fiction bogeyman, booger, boogeyman, bugaboo, bugbear - an imaginary monster used to frighten children mythical creature, mythical monster - a monster renowned in folklore and myth
	2.	monster - someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful behemoth, colossus, goliath, giant unusual person, anomaly - a person who is unusual
	3.	monster - a person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed freak, lusus naturae, monstrosity leviathan - the largest or most massive thing of its kind; "it was a leviathan among redwoods"; "they were assigned the leviathan of textbooks" mutant, mutation, sport, variation - (biology) an organism that has characteristics resulting from chromosomal alteration
	4.	monster - a cruel wicked and inhuman person fiend, ogre, demon, devil disagreeable person, unpleasant person - a person who is not pleasant or agreeable demoniac - someone who acts as if possessed by a demon
	5.	monster - (medicine) a grossly malformed and usually nonviable fetus teras fetus, foetus - an unborn or unhatched vertebrate in the later stages of development showing the main recognizable features of the mature animal medical specialty, medicine - the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques acardia - congenital absence of the heart (as in the development of some monsters) acephalia, acephalism, acephaly - absence of the head (as in the development of some monsters)

monster

noun

1. giant, mammoth, titan, colossus, monstrosity, leviathan, behemoth, Brobdingnagian He said he'd hooked a real monster of a fish.

2. brute, devil, savage, beast, demon, villain, barbarian, fiend, ogre, ghoul, bogeyman You make me sound like an absolute monster!

3. rascal, rogue, horror (informal), devil, monkey (informal), imp, tyke (informal), scallywag (informal), mischief-maker, scamp (informal) I don't think I could be as patient as they are with that little monster!

4. freak, mutant, monstrosity, lusus naturae, miscreation, teratism She keeps me hidden like some hideous monster she's ashamed of.

adjective

1. huge, giant, massive, enormous, tremendous, immense, mega (slang), titanic, jumbo (informal), gigantic, monstrous, mammoth, colossal, stellar (informal), stupendous, gargantuan, elephantine, ginormous (informal), Brobdingnagian, humongous or humungous (U.S. slang) The film will be a monster hit.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

monster

noun

1. A person or animal that is abnormally formed:

freak, monstrosity.

2. One that is extraordinarily large and powerful:

behemoth, giant, Goliath, jumbo, leviathan, mammoth, titan.

Slang: whopper.

3. A perversely bad, cruel, or wicked person:

archfiend, beast, devil, fiend, ghoul, ogre, tiger, vampire.

adjective

Of extraordinary size and power:

Informal: walloping.

Slang: whopping.

Translations

شَخْص مُخيف في بَشاعَتِهضَخْم جِداًمَسَخٌوَحْش خُرافي

nestvůranetvorpříšerazrůda

kæmpekæmpe-monsteruhyreumenneske

Ungeheuer Monster Riese

τέρας

monstro

monstruo

hirviöriiviövaltavahirveä

monstre monstrueux

čudovište

szörnyszörnyetegmonstrum

ófreskjaskepna, níîingurskrímsli, ferlíkivanskapningur

mostro mostruosit...mostruoso enorme

怪物

괴물

monstrum

baisūnasmonstraspabaisažiauruolis

briesmonis, nezvērsmilzenisnezvērs, šausmonis

monster gedrocht

monster kjempe-kjempedyr

potwór

monstro

чудовище монстр урод изверг

netvorobluda

pošast

monster

สัตว์ประหลาด

canavarcanavar ruhlu kimseanormal

quái vật

怪物恶人异常大的东西

monster

[ˈmɒnstəʳ]

A. ADJ (= enormous) → enorme, gigantesco

B. N → monstruo m (= big animal, plant, thing) → monstruo m, gigante m
a real monster of a fish → un pez verdaderamente enorme

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

monster

[ˈmɒnstə^r]

(= creature) → monstre m

(= huge thing)
a great yellow monster of a bulldozer → un monstre de bulldozer jaune
the monster which is the London marathon → l'événement monstre qu'est le marathon de Londres

adj (= massive) → monstre
The film will be a monster hit → Le film aura un succès monstre.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

monster

(= big animal, thing) → Ungetüm nt, → Monstrum nt; (= animal) → Ungeheuer nt, → Ungetüm nt; a real monster of a fish → ein wahres Monstrum or Ungeheuer von (einem) Fisch; a monster of a book → ein richtiger Schinken (inf), → ein Mammutwerk nt; a monster of greed → ein (hab)gieriges Monster

(= abnormal animal) → Ungeheuer nt, → Monster nt, → Monstrum nt; (= legendary animal) → (groteskes) Fabelwesen

(= cruel person) → Unmensch m, → Ungeheuer nt

attr

(= enormous) → riesenhaft; monster film → Monster- or Mammutfilm m

(= to do with monsters) → Monster-; monster hunt → Monsterjagd f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

monster

[ˈmɒnstəʳ]

1. n → mostro

2. adj (enormous) → gigantesco/a

monster

(ˈmonstə) noun

1. (also adjective) (something) of unusual size, form or appearance. a monster tomato.

2. a huge and/or horrible creature. prehistoric monsters.

3. a very evil person. The man must be a monster to treat his children so badly!

ˈmonstrous adjective

1. huge and often unpleasant.

2. shocking. a monstrous lie.

ˈmonstrously adverb

monster

→ مَسَخٌ nestvůra monster Ungeheuer τέρας monstruo hirviö monstre čudovište mostro 怪物 괴물 monster monster potwór monstro монстр monster สัตว์ประหลาด canavar quái vật 怪物

mon·ster

n. monstruo.

monster

n monstruo

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

It is a most tremendous monster, like a great spider, with a body as big as an elephant and legs as long as a tree trunk.

"No; there were some, but the monster has eaten them all.

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'worm' was a monster of vast size and power--a veritable dragon or serpent, such as legend attributes to vast fens or quags where there was illimitable room for expansion.

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Uplifting my eyes from the page, they fell upon the naked face of the bill, and upon an object -- upon some living monster of hideous conformation, which very rapidly made its way from the summit to the bottom, disappearing finally in the dense forest below.

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Very long ago, as old people have told me, there lived a terrible monster, who came out of the North, and laid waste whole tracts of country, devouring both men and beasts; and this monster was so destructive that it was feared that unless help came no living creature would be left on the face of the earth.

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'It's a fabulous monster!' the Unicorn cried out, before Alice could reply.

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He was almost halfway over, when suddenly a horrible sea monster stuck its head out of the water, an enormous head with a huge mouth, wide open, showing three rows of gleaming teeth, the mere sight of which would have filled you with fear.

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"On earth there is nothing greater than I: it is I who am the regulating finger of God"--thus roareth the monster. And not only the long-eared and short-sighted fall upon their knees!

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Fifteen days later, two thousand miles farther off, the Helvetia, of the Compagnie-Nationale, and the Shannon, of the Royal Mail Steamship Company, sailing to windward in that portion of the Atlantic lying between the United States and Europe, respectively signalled the monster to each other in 42@ 15' N.

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Christine!" he moaned, calling to her as he felt that she must be calling to him from the depths of that dark pit to which the monster had carried her.

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"This pretended foundling is a real monster of abomination," resumed Jehanne.

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At the high end the skull forms a crater to bed that part of the mass; while under the long floor of this crater -- in another cavity seldom exceeding ten inches in length and as many in depth --reposes the mere handful of this monster's brain.