Wiktionary

mountainous

English

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Etymology

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From mountain +‎ -ous after Middle French montagneux, from Late Latin montāniōsus, from montānia, from Latin montem (“mountain”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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mountainous (comparative more mountainous, superlative most mountainous)

  1. Having many mountains; characterized by mountains; of the nature of a mountain; rough (terrain); rocky.
    • 1705, George Cheyne, “Of the Existence of a Deity”, in Philosophical Principles of Natural Religion: […], London: […] George Strahan […], →OCLC, § XXIX, page 184:
      [Water vapour bubbles] hit againſt the ſides of the more eminent and Mountainous Places, of the Globe, and by this Concuſſion are condenſed, and thus become heavier than the Air they ſvvom in, and ſo gleet dovvn the rocky Caverns of theſe Mountains, […]
    • 1956 April, H. A. Vallance, “To Oslo via Stavanger”, in Railway Magazine, page 213:
      The mountainous nature of Norway has always been a serious obstacle to the development of railways, and although some 2,700 route miles are now open for traffic, several schemes have yet to be completed.
    • 2024 October 1, Simon Montlake, “In mountainous North Carolina, residents are the first responders after Hurricane Helene”, in The Christian Science Monitor‎[1], archived from the original on 5 October 2024:
      While the physical and human toll now is likely to be lower, the mountainous terrain and dispersed population make the response to Helene tough to manage and could slow the transition to a recovery phase, after power and other services are restored.
  2. Resembling a mountain, especially in size; huge; towering.
    • 2016 November 28, Mike Vorkunov, “Despite Flash of Rose’s Prime, Knicks Are Dazed by Westbrook and Thunder”, in The New York Times‎[2], archived from the original on 8 November 2020:
      But the added size did not give them an advantage this time. Not when Kanter and Adams, two mountainous players, could match the Knicks’ girth with their own.
  3. (figurative, of a problem or task) Very difficult.
    • 2016 August 4, “Off-hand remark in Rio chafes Chinese Net”, in Global Times‎[3], archived from the original on 7 March 2020:
      As Brazil faced the mountainous task of completing an Olympic venue before the opening ceremony, Chinese netizens got busy molehilling a remark by a Rio construction manager about their China supplier.
  4. (obsolete) Inhabiting mountains; hence, barbarous.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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