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monster

Syllabification: (mon·ster)
Pronunciation: /ˈmänstər/
Translate monster | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of monster

noun

  • an imaginary creature that is typically large, ugly, and frightening.
  • an inhumanly cruel or wicked person:he was an unfeeling, treacherous monster
  • often humorous a person, typically a child, who is rude or badly behaved:Christopher is only a year old, but already he is a little monster
  • a thing or animal that is excessively or dauntingly large:this is a monster of a book, almost 2,000 pages [as modifier]:a monster 120-mm gun
  • a congenitally malformed or mutant animal or plant.

verb

[with object] informal, chiefly British
  • criticize or reprimand severely:my mother used to monster me for coming home so late

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French monstre, from Latin monstrum 'portent or monster', from monere 'warn'

monster in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of monster in the British & World English dictionary