How to say “monster” in 33 languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
It is commonest in Chinese, where 怪物 is the 477th most used word.
- Albanian përbindësh #1,182
- Basque munstro #700
- Bengali রাক্ষস demon, monster #1,623
- Bosnian čudovište #1,546
- Bulgarian чудовище monster, abomination #1,402
- Catalan monstre #1,058
- Chinese 怪物 #477
- Croatian čudovište #1,354
- Dutch monster a monster, terrifying and dangerous creature #1,208
- English creature A living being, such as an animal, monster,… #2,349
- Esperanto monstro #1,296
- Finnish hirviö #2,175
- French monstre #1,292
- Galician monstro #1,834
- German monster #1,380
- Greek τέρας #1,094
- Hebrew מפלצת #1,174
- Hungarian szörnyeteg #2,280
- Icelandic skrímsli #1,233
- Indonesian monster a monster #786
- Italian mostri #2,127
- Korean 괴물 monster; freak #1,005
- Latvian briesmonis #2,246
- Lithuanian pabaisa #1,042
- Macedonian али #1,105
- Persian هیولا #2,174
- Romanian monstru #1,586
- Serbian čudovište #1,451
- Spanish monstruo monster, beast, behemoth #1,646
- Swedish monster a monster #1,318
- Tagalog halimaw beast; monster; ferocious animal #676
- Tamil அரக்கன் monster, demon #1,885
- Turkish canavar #1,171
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.