monstrosity

/mɑnˈstrɑsɪɾi/

/mɒnˈstrɒsɪti/

Other forms: monstrosities

A monstrosity is something so hideous that you can hardly stand to look at it, like a zombie or an ugly modern building.

A monster can certainly be described as a monstrosity, but so can anything that is as frightening or disgusting as a monster. A dictator's cruel regime is a monstrosity, and so is a three-headed fish. The word comes from the Latin word for monster, monstrum, with a root, monere, that means "warn," from the tradition of interpreting monstrous, deformed animals as omens — or warnings — of bad luck.

Definitions of monstrosity

1. noun

   a person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed
   synonyms: freak, lusus naturae, monster

   types:

   leviathan

   the largest or most massive thing of its kind

   type of:

   mutant, mutation, sport, variation

   (biology) an organism that has characteristics resulting from chromosomal alteration
2. noun

   something hideous or frightful
   “they regarded the atom bomb as a monstrosity”

   type of:

   malformation, miscreation

   something abnormal or anomalous