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Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

monster

/ˈmɑnstɚ/

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What does monster mean?

noun

  1. A terrifying and dangerous creature, especially one of an imaginary or fictional kind.
  2. A cruel, heartless, or antisocial person, especially a criminal.
  3. (figuratively, humorous) A badly behaved person, especially a child; a brat.
More meanings (13)

noun

  1. (informal) A prodigy; someone very talented in a specific domain.
  2. (informal) Something very or unusually large.
  3. A bizarre or whimsical creature.
  4. A non-player character that player(s) fight against in role-playing games; a mob
  5. (archaic) A deformed animal or person (especially, a severely deformed one); in previous centuries often taken as an ill omen at the time of its birth. (Offensive when applied to humans in modern usage.)
  6. (archaic, offensive) A disabled person, especially a physically disabled person.

adjective

  1. (informal) Very large; worthy of a monster.
  2. (informal) Great; very good; excellent.

verb

  1. To make into a monster; to categorise as a monster; to demonise.
  2. To behave as a monster to; to terrorise.
  3. To harass.
  4. 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.

proper noun

  1. A surname.
Wiktionary contributors Wiktionary contributors

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈmɑnstɚ/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

My master loves her dearly, And I, poor monster, fond as much on him, And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
William ShakespeareThe Complete Works of William ShakespeareProject Gutenberg ebook #100
When I came again to myself the monster had pulled himself together, his crutch under his arm, his hat upon his head.
Robert Louis StevensonTreasure IslandProject Gutenberg ebook #120
More book examples (3)
I dashed my shoulder into a clumsy monster who was turning to see what Moreau meant, and flung him forward into another.
H. G. (Herbert George) WellsThe island of Doctor MoreauProject Gutenberg ebook #159
The night slipped away without any mischance, the islanders frightened no doubt at the sight of a monster aground in the bay.
Jules VerneTwenty Thousand Leagues under the SeaProject Gutenberg ebook #164
The personality thus formed would appear as a cruel and narrow and abominable monster, more horrible than the bloodiest tyrants of history.
Gustave Le BonThe Psychology of RevolutionProject Gutenberg ebook #448