Frankenstein's monster en · NOUN
Etymology
In Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein (1818), Dr. Frankenstein assembled a monster from human corpses; it eventually escaped his control.
Meanings
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(figuratively) A thing that is cobbled together from parts of other things.
He is like a Frankenstein's monster in reverse: everything that is pretty is combined together to produce a perfect androgyne.
1995, Roger Horrocks, Jo Campling, Male Myths and Icons: Masculinity in Popular Culture, page 141:Like the English language, the eukaryote cell is a chimera, a Frankenstein's monster, assembled from bits and pieces of genetic information...
1991, Euan George Nisbet, Living Earth: A Short History of Life and Its Home, page 84:
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(figuratively) A creation that overpowers or slips out of the control of its creator, often proceeding to turn on its creator or harm others.
They created a Frankenstein's monster which they did not imagine could grow out of their control.
1968, Harold Joseph Laski, Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time, page 109:Somehow, the law does not always seem to serve those who created it, becoming at times a Frankenstein's monster of sorts.
1977, Norman R. Augustine, Augustine's Laws, page 68:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frankenstein monster | alternative | lexicographic | |
| Frankenstein's monsters | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| frankenstein monster | alternative | lexicographic |
Synonyms
frankenstein · Frankenstein · Frankensteinian monster · frankensteinian monster
Translations (8)
de Frankensteins Monster (Translations) · ru Чудовище Франкенштейна (Translations) · kk Франкенштейн құбыжығы (Translations) · pl stwór Frankensteina (Translations) · ka ფრანკენშტაინის ურჩხული (Translations) · ja フランケンシュタインの怪物 (Translations) · fr monstre de Frankenstein (Translations) · pl Frankenstein (Translations)