monstrosity

noun

mon·​stros·​i·​ty män-ˈsträ-sə-tē 

plural monstrosities

1

a

: a malformation of a plant or animal

b

: something deviating from the normal : freak

2

: the quality or state of being monstrous

the monstrosity of the tsunami's devastation

3

a

: an object of great and often frightening size, force, or complexity

this monstrosity, the atomic bomb

b

: an excessively bad or shocking example

The new mall is an architectural monstrosity.

Synonyms

• abnormality
• anomaly
• freak
• monster

Examples of monstrosity in a Sentence

Did you see the new mall? It's a monstrosity.

any monstrosities born to the farm animals were sent to the agricultural college for study

Recent Examples on the Web

The walking parts of the financial system walked away from the monstrosity of the system. —Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 3 Nov. 2024

And that's where the entity reveals its final form, shedding its human shell to expose a towering, multi-faced, grinning monstrosity. —Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 19 Oct. 2024

One multi-level monstrosity in Shreveport, called Sequoia, can store 30 million products, and instantly retrieve items from this massive stockpile thanks to thousands of mobile robots within it. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 14 Oct. 2024

During the director’s favorite scene from the film, Halley’s camcorder floats through zero gravity and slowly turns to reveal the suffering monstrosity the intrepid journalist and flawed mom character has become. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 7 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

monstrosity

noun

mon·​stros·​i·​ty män-ˈsträs-ət-ē 

plural monstrosities

1

: the condition of being monstrous

2

: something monstrous : monster