monstrous
mon·strous/ˈmɑnstɹəs/adjective
monstrous is spelled M-O-N-S-T-R-O-U-S, 2 syllables: mon·strous. The wrong spelling people search most is monsterous: about 110 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Monstrous is an adjective meaning “Hideous or frightful”.
How many letters and syllables are in monstrous?
| Letters | 9: M-O-N-S-T-R-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: mon·strous |
| In writing | 2.6 times per million words; the 16,896th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, monsterous, about 110 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell monstrous?
Monstrous is spelled M-O-N-S-T-R-O-U-S. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for monstrous in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is monstrous?
Monstrous appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce monstrous?
- UK /ˈmɒnstɹəs/
- US /ˈmɑnstɹəs/
- Canada /ˈmɒnstɹəs/
Monstrous has 2 syllables, split mon·strous in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-monstrous.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with monstrous?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as monstrous from its last stressed vowel (/ɑnstɹəs/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of monstrous
- more monstrous comparative
- most monstrous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does monstrous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Hideous or frightful.
- 2
Enormously large.
a monstrous height
- 3
Freakish or grotesque.
- 4
Of, or relating to a mythical monster; full of monsters.
- 5
obsoleteMarvellous; exceedingly strange; fantastical.
- 6
derogatoryoffensiveDisabled; crippled. (A severe slur used to describe persons with disabilities.)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Monstrous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | monstrueux |
| German | ungeheuerlich, monströs , grotesk , monsterhaft |
| Portuguese | monstruoso , gigantesco, gigante, enorme |
| Spanish | monstruoso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does monstrous come from?
From Middle English monstrous, from Old French monstrueuse, monstrüos, from Latin mōnstrōsus. Compare monstruous. By surface analysis, monster + -ous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).