different between monstrous vs preposterous

English

Etymology

From Middle English monstrous, from Old French monstrueuse, monstrüos, from Latin m?nstr?sus. Compare monstruous.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?nst??s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?nst??s/
• Hyphenation: mon?strous

Adjective

monstrous (comparative more monstrous, superlative most monstrous)

1. Hideous or frightful.
2. Enormously large.

   a monstrous height
3. Freakish or grotesque.

   • The irregular and monstrous births

   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The rule and exercises of holy living

     He, therefore, that refuses to do good to them whom he is bound to love […] is unnatural and monstrous in his affections.

4. Of, or relating to a mythical monster; full of monsters.
5. (obsolete) Marvellous; exceedingly strange; fantastical.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:gigantic

Translations

Middle English

Adjective

monstrous

1. Alternative form of monstruous

English

Alternative forms

• præposterous (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin praeposterus (“with the hinder part before, reversed, inverted, perverted”), from prae (“before”) + posterus (“coming after”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???p?st???s/, /p???p?st??s/, /p??-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /p???p?st???s/, /p???p?st??s/

Adjective

preposterous (comparative more preposterous, superlative most preposterous)

1. Absurd, or contrary to common sense.
   • 2016 January 30, "America deserves more from presidential hopefuls," The National (retrieved 31 January 2016):

     Democrats, too, must be criticised. While they have not made preposterous statements or been threatening or demagogic, they, all too often, have come up short, failing to propose new ideas that can help unwind conflicts raging across the Middle East.

Synonyms

• absurd
• foolish
• irrational
• nonsensical
• See also Thesaurus:absurd

Translations

See also

• topsy-turvy
• upside down

Further reading

• preposterous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• preposterous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.