monster

noun

1. 1

   A terrifying and dangerous creature, especially one of an imaginary or fictional kind.

   O, 'twas a din to fright a monster's ear,/ to make an earthquake.

   [T]he monſter [sc. a tiger], rouſed by the noiſe, ſtarted forward, preſented ſuch a viſage of horror, and raiſed ſuch a hideous roar, that the hearts of the bold were contracted, and the nerves of the valiant unſtrung.

   He caught Grendel's right hand, and still without rising from his bed, stopped the monster's onrush.

   His origin amongst monsters and man-eaters signals the play's recurrent concerns with monstrification, with eating others or being eaten by them, and with issues of specularity […]

2. 2

   A terrifying and dangerous creature, especially one of an imaginary or fictional kind. A cruel, heartless, or antisocial person, especially a criminal.

   Get away from those children, you monster!

   I'm not a monster, Tom, well, technically I am / I guess I am...

   My young children leave their art everywhere. I find most of it on the floor. […] Eventually, I started throwing it all away. Perhaps I am a monster.

   "Because of this monster, Jayme won't have her mom and dad at her dance recitals," Mike Closs, Jayme's uncle, said in court. Closs' aunt Jennifer Smith said the family was satisfied with the sentence and knew it would give Jayme peace.

3. 3

   figurativeA terrifying and dangerous creature, especially one of an imaginary or fictional kind. A badly behaved person, especially a child; a brat.

   Sit still, you little monster!

   The rest of the day he heard the children playing kick-the-can, hide-and-seek, Over-Annie-Over, jacks, tops, mibs, and the sound of the little monsters in every shrub and shadow would not let him rest.

4. 4

   informalA terrifying and dangerous creature, especially one of an imaginary or fictional kind. A prodigy; someone very talented in a specific domain.

   That dude playing guitar is a monster.

   He was a party monster. Able to drink and drug just about any member of the Fleetwood Mac family under the table, he did so with regularity and charm.

5. 5

   informalA creature of unnatural or highly unusual shape or form (which makes a frightening or unpleasant impression). Something very or unusually large.

   Have you seen those powerlifters on TV? They're monsters.

   Although she, for many years had waged continual war against rheumatism, her pleasant face shone like the full moon from under the white head-gear, while she had protected herself against any possible attack of the enemy by a multiplicity of petticoats and jackets; and as an outer fortification she had put on a monster of a frieze cloak.

   The blacks had faded into the jungle before the weak eyes of the monster had fallen upon any of them, but now he caught the sound of their retreat, and, amid a terrific crashing of underbrush and branches, he charged in the direction of the noise.

   Ashley: Look at the size of that ship! Kaidan: The Ascension. Flagship of the Citadel fleet. Joker: Well, size isn't everything. Ashley: Why so touchy, Joker? Joker: I'm just saying you need firepower, too. Ashley: Look at that monster! It's main gun could rip through the barriers on any ship in the Alliance fleet.

6. 6

   archaicA creature of unnatural or highly unusual shape or form (which makes a frightening or unpleasant impression). 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.)

   The villagers were worried because the weather had been strange and several monsters had been born among the flocks and people.

   Deducting then these cases, we have a large proportion of imperfect foetuses, which belonged to twin conceptions, and in which, therefore, the circulation of the monster may have essentially depended on that of the sound child.

   "Periodically, storms would bring the creeping death to the valley - drifting clouds of radio-active dust - and men would sicken and die and women give birth to monsters."

7. 7

   archaicA creature of unnatural or highly unusual shape or form (which makes a frightening or unpleasant impression). 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.) A disabled person, especially a physically disabled person.

8. 8

   A bizarre or whimsical creature.

   The children decided Grover was a cuddly monster.

9. 9

   A non-player character that player(s) fight against in role-playing games; a mob

adjective

1. 1

   informalVery large; worthy of a monster.

   He has a monster appetite.

   I turned to Jack and said, "It's supposed to be monster."

   How do you get more monster than a monster truck? You build a monster tank.

2. 2

   informalGreat; very good; excellent.

   “You did great today,” I told Josh. “You were monster.” “yeah,” he said. “I was monster. Thank you, Charlie.”

   Seconds later Nano’s monster throw-in from the left was recycled to the wing-back and, when he produced the most delicious of deliveries, the totally unmarked Lopes drilled home from six yards.

verb

1. 1

   To make into a monster; to categorise as a monster; to demonise.

   Animals in our world have been monstered by human action as much as the free beasts of the pre-lapsarian state were monstered by the primal crime.

   A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations feature four cases of women monstered by passion. Madame Defarge is ‘a tigress’, Mrs Joe a virago, Molly (Estella′s criminal mother) ‘a wild beast tamed’ and Miss Havisham a witch-like creature, a ghastly combination of waxwork and skeleton.

   The community forgives: this is in deep contrast to offenders that emerge from prison and remain stigmatised and monstered, often unable to get work or housing.

   Demonizing or monstering other groups has even become part of the cycle of American politics.

2. 2

   To behave as a monster to; to terrorise.

   In 2002, American interrogators on the ground in Afghanistan developed a technique they called “monstering.” The commander “instituted a new rule that a prisoner could be kept awake and in the booth for as long as an interrogator could last.” One “monstering” interrogator engaged in this for thirty hours.¹⁷⁷

   The interrogators asked members of the 377th Military Police Company to help them with monstering, and the MPs complied.

3. 3

   To harass.

   Andy Roddick has been monstered by both Federer and Nadal and suffered a 6-2 7-5 7-5 semi-final loss at the hands of the Swiss champion.

4. 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.

   Are you monstering that event?

Forms

plural

monsters

past tense

monstered

past participle

monstered

present participle

monstering

third person singular

monsters