Adjectives to Describe a Monster: Looks, Movement, Sound and Fear

To describe a monster, pick adjectives for the three things a reader notices first: its size and body (hulking, gaunt, many-legged, scaly), the way it moves and sounds (lumbering, skittering, rasping) and the feeling it creates (menacing, eerie, revolting). Two or three precise words beat a pile of “scary, horrible, terrifying”, because they let the reader see one particular creature.

The lists below are grouped by what each word describes, with a sentence for every word. There is a gentler set for children’s stories, a short model paragraph, and practice at the end. For the fear itself, see adjectives for scary things; for dragons in particular, see adjectives for a dragon.

Quick picker

Size and build

• hulking – “A hulking shape filled the doorway.”
• towering – “The towering creature had to stoop under the bridge.”
• colossal / gigantic / enormous – “A colossal squid rose beside the ship.”
• squat (short and wide) – “A squat troll sat under the arch, picking its teeth.”
• gaunt / skeletal / emaciated (thin to the bone) – “The gaunt ghoul’s ribs showed through its grey skin.”
• bloated / swollen – “Something bloated and pale floated in the cistern.”
• hunched / stooped – “A hunched figure shuffled along the wall.”
• spindly (long and thin legs or arms) – “Its spindly legs clicked on the tiles.”
• tiny – a small monster can be worse: “A tiny, quick thing ran up the curtain.”

More size words: adjectives for big and adjectives for huge.

Skin, scales and body parts

Words built from a noun plus -ed (horned, clawed, fanged) are quick ways to add one feature. A number in front works too: three-eyed, eight-legged, many-headed.

• scaly – “Its scaly tail scraped the rocks.”
• slimy – “A slimy trail led from the drain to the bed.”
• leathery – “Leathery wings unfolded with a crack.”
• hairy / shaggy / matted – “Matted fur hung in clumps from its shoulders.”
• warty / pockmarked – “A warty hand closed around the lantern.”
• mottled (patchy colours) – “Mottled green-and-grey skin, like old pond water.”
• translucent (light shows through) – “Through its translucent belly you could see what it had eaten.”
• horned / clawed / fanged / tusked – “A tusked boar the size of a cart charged out of the trees.”
• tentacled – “A tentacled thing pulled itself up the hull.”
• many-headed / three-eyed / eight-legged – “The many-headed serpent struck from three sides at once.”
• eyeless – “The eyeless creature found them by sound.”
• glowing / red-eyed / milky-eyed – “Two red-eyed shapes watched from the reeds.”
• misshapen / twisted / lopsided – “Its misshapen face looked stitched together from two others.”

How it moves

Movement adjectives often come from verbs (lumbering, slithering). They are some of the strongest choices, because a reader pictures the motion.

• lumbering (slow and heavy) – “The lumbering giant shook the floor with each step.”
• shambling / shuffling – “Shambling figures moved between the gravestones.”
• slithering – “A slithering sound came from under the floorboards.”
• skittering / scuttling (fast and many-legged) – “Something skittering ran across the ceiling.”
• loping (long, easy strides) – “A loping wolf-thing kept pace with the car.”
• lurching / jerky – “It came at them in lurching, jerky bursts.”
• silent / soundless – “It was silent until it was right behind her.”
• swift / lightning-fast – “Swift as a cat for all its size.”

Sound and smell

• snarling / growling – “A snarling muzzle pushed under the gate.”
• rasping / wheezing – “Its rasping breath filled the dark.”
• shrieking / howling – “Shrieking shapes circled the tower.”
• gurgling / wet – “A wet, gurgling laugh came from the well.”
• putrid / rotten / rank – “The putrid smell reached them before the creature did.”
• musty (old and damp) – “A musty, cellar smell clung to its robes.”
• sulphurous – “Sulphurous smoke rose from its nostrils.”

Behaviour and nature

These say what the monster wants or how it acts. Mixing one unexpected word in (a patient monster, a polite one) can be more chilling than another word for “angry”.

• ravenous / insatiable – “A ravenous creature that never stopped eating.”
• ferocious / savage / vicious – “The ferocious beast tore the door off its hinges.”
• predatory – “Its eyes followed the children with a predatory stillness.”
• territorial – “Trolls are territorial; cross the bridge and you pay.”
• cunning / calculating – “A cunning thing that waited until the lights went out.”
• patient / watchful – “Patient as a spider, it waited by the stairs for weeks.”
• malevolent / malicious (wanting to harm) – “A malevolent spirit lived in the attic.”
• mischievous (trouble rather than harm) – “Mischievous goblins had tied the horses’ tails together.”
• vengeful – “The vengeful ghost wanted the name of its murderer.”
• docile / harmless / gentle – “Despite its size, the swamp beast was docile.”
• misunderstood / lonely – “A lonely monster who only wanted to be left alone.”

For human bad guys rather than creatures, adjectives for a villain has words like ruthless and tyrannical.

What kind of monster

• undead – “An undead army rose from the marsh.”
• spectral / ghostly – “A spectral hound ran beside the coach.”
• demonic / infernal – “Demonic laughter echoed in the chapel.”
• mythical / legendary – “The mythical kraken was said to sink whole fleets.”
• ancient / primeval – “Something ancient slept under the ice.”
• eldritch (strange in a way the mind can barely grasp; common in weird fiction) – “Eldritch shapes moved behind the stars.”
• shape-shifting – “A shape-shifting creature that wore its victims’ faces.”
• alien / otherworldly – “Its otherworldly skin changed colour as it breathed.” See also adjectives for aliens.
• mutant / mutated – “Mutant rats the size of dogs.”
• cursed – “A cursed knight who could never take off his armour.”
• nameless – “The villagers spoke of it only as the nameless thing.”

Adjectives for well-known monsters

For a vampire or ghost, quieter words (pale, cold, mournful) are often more frightening than violent ones; for a zombie, words of movement and decay do most of the work.

The effect on the people who see it

• terrifying / horrifying – “A terrifying roar rolled down the valley.”
• menacing / threatening – “A menacing outline appeared in the fog.”
• eerie / uncanny (strange, almost familiar) – “It had an uncanny, almost human smile.”
• unsettling / unnerving – “Its unblinking stare was unnerving.”
• grotesque / hideous / monstrous – “A grotesque mask of a face, too wide at the jaw.”
• revolting / repulsive / sickening – “The revolting creature licked the window.”
• ghastly (deathly pale, or shocking) – “Its ghastly white face hung in the dark.”
• nightmarish – “A nightmarish tangle of legs and teeth.”
• awe-inspiring / majestic (frightening and wonderful) – “The sea serpent was terrible and majestic at once.”

Horror writers will also want adjectives for horror and adjectives for evil.

Friendly monsters for younger readers

Picture books and school stories often want a monster that is funny or cuddly rather than frightening. These words keep the creature a monster without the nightmares:

• fuzzy / furry / fluffy – “A fuzzy purple monster lived under Ana’s bed.”
• goofy / silly – “The goofy monster wore a saucepan as a hat.”
• grumpy / grouchy – “A grumpy monster who hated bath time.”
• clumsy – “The clumsy monster tripped over its own tail.”
• lopsided / knobbly / googly-eyed – “A lopsided grin and three googly eyes.”
• shy / timid – “The shy monster hid behind the curtain.”
• gentle / friendly / snuggly – “A gentle giant who carried the children over the river.”
• slightly spooky / creepy-crawly – “A creepy-crawly monster with fifty tiny boots.”

Children asked to find “creepy” words for a class poem can use the effect list above with the milder words: creepy, spooky, eerie, ghastly, gloomy. The Halloween adjectives page has more.

A model paragraph

It came up the cellar steps one at a time, slow and patient. First the smell, musty and sweet like old fruit; then a long, mottled hand with too many joints; then the head, eyeless and smooth, turning towards the sound of Mia’s breathing. It did not hurry. It did not need to.

Notice what the paragraph does: about six adjectives in five sentences, each describing something different (manner, smell, colour, shape, the head), and one behaviour word, patient, that does more than any word for scary would.

Putting several adjectives together

English usually orders adjectives as opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose: a hideous little grey creature, a huge ancient stone golem. Adjectives from different groups like these take no commas. Use commas, or and, only between adjectives of the same kind that each describe the noun on their own: a cold, wet, rasping breath. See the order of adjectives and commas between adjectives.

Mistakes to avoid

• Stacking near-synonyms. “A scary, frightening, terrifying monster” says one thing three times. Keep one, and spend the other words on a detail: “a terrifying, many-legged thing”.
• Telling instead of showing. “The horrifying monster” names the reaction; “the dogs would not go near it” shows it. Use both, but not the label alone.
• Mixing up similar words. Ghastly (pale or shocking) is not ghostly (like a ghost). Abysmal now means “very bad” (abysmal weather); for darkness from the deep, use abyssal or bottomless.
• Using “monstrous” only for monsters. It also means “huge” (a monstrous bill) or “shockingly cruel” (a monstrous lie), so check the reader will take it the way you mean.
• Commas between adjectives from different groups. “A huge, ancient, stone golem” should be “a huge ancient stone golem” (size, age, material).
• “A” before a vowel sound. “An undead knight”, “an eyeless worm”, but “a unicorn” (the sound is “you”).

Practice

Choose the best adjective.

1. The giant moved slowly and heavily: a ______ giant. (lumbering / skittering / spectral)
2. Many small legs, very fast: a ______ creature. (loping / scuttling / squat)
3. It wants to cause harm: a ______ spirit. (mischievous / malevolent / docile)
4. Deathly pale: a ______ face. (ghastly / ghostly / abysmal)
5. For a picture book: a ______ monster who loves pancakes. (putrid / goofy / predatory)
6. Correct the punctuation: “a huge, ancient, stone golem”.
7. Replace the three near-synonyms with one adjective plus one detail: “a scary, frightening, terrifying monster”.

Answers: 1 lumbering; 2 scuttling; 3 malevolent; 4 ghastly; 5 goofy; 6 a huge ancient stone golem; 7 for example “a terrifying, eyeless monster” or “a terrifying monster with a hundred teeth”.

Quick answers

What are good adjectives to describe a monster? For looks: hulking, gaunt, scaly, slimy, many-legged. For movement: lumbering, slithering, skittering. For feeling: menacing, eerie, grotesque. Choose one from each group rather than three from one.

What is a scary word for a monster? Menacing, nightmarish, ghastly, eerie and uncanny all work; uncanny is good for monsters that look almost human.

How do you describe a monster for kids? Use friendly or funny words: fuzzy, goofy, grumpy, clumsy, lopsided, shy. Keep “creepy” and “spooky” for a pleasant shiver.

What is a word for a small monster? Imp, gremlin and goblin are nouns for small mischievous creatures; adjectives for one include tiny, wiry, sly, scuttling and sharp-toothed.

What adjectives describe a monster’s voice? Rasping, booming, gurgling, hissing, shrill and guttural.

New to adjectives? Start with what is an adjective.

Checked against Merriam-Webster, the Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook. Spotted an error? Tell us — see our editorial policy.