mondo

M3O1N1D2O1

noun

A dialogue between master and student designed to obtain an intuitive truth.

Less commonScrabble 8

Meanings

mondo1

nounmondo (plural mondos)

plural mondos

  1. Zen BuddhismA dialogue between master and student designed to obtain an intuitive truth.

mondo2

adjectivemondo (comparative more mondo, superlative most mondo)

comparative more mondo · superlative most mondo

  1. USslangBig, large; major, significant.

    “You're kidding—you can eat again after that mondo burger you had for lunch?”

    2012, Lucienne Diver, Crazy in the Blood, Samhain Publishing, Ltd., published 2012, →ISBN, page 79
    2 more examples

    […] I mean, me bein' here has caused us some mondo problems, so I shoulda figured out that not bein' here anymore would cause some more problems — "

    1997, K. C. Constantine, Family Values, G. K. Hall & Co., published 1997, →ISBN, page 80

    Younger gorgeous woman marries older, rich man, lives her life solely for him while reaping the bennies of mondo moolah only to end up dumped by older rich man for newer, younger model.

    2010, Dakota Cassidy, You Dropped a Blonde on Me, Berkley Sensation, published 2010, →ISBN
adverbmondo (not comparable)
  1. USnot comparableslangVery, extremely, really.

    This recipe, from someone who really knows her tiramisu, is mondo rich, utterly divine, and simple.

    2001, Margie Lapanja, Food Men Love: All-Time Favorite Recipes from Caesar Salad and Grilled Rib-Eye to Cinnamon Buns and Apple Pie, Conari Press, published 2001, →ISBN, page 196
    2 more examples

    "This rain is mondo depressing," Sam sighed as she stared out the sliding glass doors that led to the Hewitts' deck.

    1992, Cherie Bennett, Sunset Paradise, Berkley, published 1992, →ISBN, page 1

    “Hey, this place is mondo cool. Bowie hangs out there. It's so packed you can hardly get in. And they play industrial out of one set of speakers and the Sex Pistols out of the other. I mean in the same room! Like, at a thousand decibels."

    2002, Jeffrey Deaver, Mistress of Justice, Bantam Books, published 2002, →ISBN, page 93

Origin

mondo · noun

  1. Japanese問答
  2. Englishmondo

From Japanese 問答 (mondō).

Full word history & related roots →

mondo · adjective, adverb

From the title of the 1962 Italian cult documentary film Mondo cane, Italian for "A Dog's World", from mondo (“world”) and cane (“dog”). The film featured bizarre scenes, leading to English use of mondo as an adverb meaning "very, extremely" in mock-Italian phrases like mondo bizarro. Doublet of monde.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

mondo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mondo

MLA

“mondo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mondo. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mondo,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mondo.

Source: mondo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.