A monstrosity is something so ugly, disturbing, or badly made that it seems almost unnatural or wrong. When architects design a beautiful old neighborhood and someone builds a giant concrete building that clashes with everything around it, neighbors might call it a monstrosity. When a movie special effect looks ridiculous instead of scary, viewers might describe the creature as a monstrosity.

It carries a sense of something being shockingly out of place or offensive to look at. A monstrosity is so extremely unattractive that it makes people stop and stare in disbelief. You might hear someone describe a towering pile of cafeteria food as a monstrosity, or call a sculpture made from rusty car parts a monstrosity if they think it's hideous.

Monstrosity can also describe something morally horrible rather than physically ugly. Historical acts of great cruelty are sometimes called monstrosities because they violate our sense of human decency so completely.

The word suggests extreme ugliness combined with a sense of wrongness. A monstrosity seems to violate the natural order of things or represent a terrible failure of judgment or taste.