monstruous

English

Etymology

From Middle English monstruous, from Old French monstrueuse, monstrüos, from Latin mōnstruōsus.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒnstɹʊəs/

Adjective

monstruous (comparative more monstruous, superlative most monstruous)

1. (now rare) Monstrous. [from 15th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     For he was sterne and terrible by nature, […] And rather like a Gyant monstruous […].

Middle English

Alternative forms

• moustruous, monstrous, monstruows, monstrows

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French monstrueus, borrowed itself from Latin mōnstruōsus, mōnstrōsus; equivalent to monstre +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔnstriu̯ˈuːs/, /mɔnsˈtruːs/

Adjective

monstruous

1. Misshapen, grotesque; of unnatural form or appearance.
2. (rare) Monstrous, terrifying, fear-inducing.

Related terms

• monstruous

Descendants

• English: monstrous, monstruous
• Scots: monsterous

References

• “monstruǒus, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-10-04.