monster-in-law

noun

A very unpleasant mother-in-law (spouse's mother).

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Meanings

nounmonster-in-law (plural monsters-in-law)

plural monsters-in-law

  1. colloquialhumorousA very unpleasant mother-in-law (spouse's mother).

    So when we belatedly celebrated Caspar's third anniversary the following weekend, I was notably frosty towards her. But this is not a typical tale of monster-in-law woes.

    2011 April 22, Anna Maxted, “Why I love my mother-in-law”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

Origin

Blend of monster + mother-in-law.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German Schwiegermonster
  • SchwiegermonsterTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

monster-in-law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monster-in-law

MLA

“monster-in-law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monster-in-law. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “monster-in-law,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monster-in-law.

Source: monster-in-law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.