Mountainous

//ˈmaʊn.tɪ.nəs// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Having many mountains; characterized by mountains; of the nature of a mountain; rough (terrain); rocky.

    "[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, […]"

  2. 2
    Resembling a mountain, especially in size; huge; towering.

    "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. 3
    Very difficult. figuratively
  4. 4
    Inhabiting mountains; hence, barbarous. obsolete
Adjective
  1. 1
    containing many mountains wordnet
  2. 2
    like a mountain in size and impressiveness wordnet
  3. 3
    having hills and crags wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
largeabysmalalpenalpestrinealpigenealpine

Example

More examples

"The capital of Ecuador is Quito, in the mountainous province of Pichincha."

Etymology

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

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.