monster
noun · adjective · verb
Simple meaning
A terrifying and dangerous creature.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mahnsterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɑnstɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A terrifying and dangerous creature, especially one of an imaginary or mythical kind.
A bizarre or whimsical creature.
An imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts
A cruel wicked and inhuman person
A cruel, heartless, or antisocial person, especially a criminal.
informal
Someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful
adjective
informal
Great; very good; excellent.
informal
Very large; worthy of a monster.
verb
UKlive action roleplaying games
To play (a series of) non-player characters as directed, without having the responsibility of organising the game itself; generally not limited to playing literal monsters or hostile combatants.
chiefly australia
To harass.
informalbritishtransitive
To condemn or reprimand.
transitive
To make into a monster; to categorise as a monster; to demonise.
intransitive
To behave as a monster to; to terrorise.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A terrifying and dangerous creature, especially one of an imaginary or mythical kind.
Used this way, monster is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries warmth, so it reads as personal rather than detached.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Kind and considerate
- Usage feel
- Warm and expressive
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use monster
- “The children decided Grover was a cuddly monster.”noun
- “Get away from those children, you meatheaded monster!”noun
- “Sit still, you little monster!”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Large orange and black lizard of southwestern United States.
A feeling of jealous envy (especially of a rival).
A large aquatic animal supposed to resemble a serpent or plesiosaur of Loch Ness in Scotland.
The monster created by Frankenstein in a gothic novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (the creator's name is commonly used to refer to his creation).
A monster renowned in folklore and myth.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: terrifying and dangerous creature
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.