mountainous

adjective

moun·​tain·​ous ˈmau̇n-tə-nəs How to pronounce mountainous (audio)
ˈmau̇nt-nəs
1
: containing many mountains
2
: resembling a mountain : huge
mountainously adverb
mountainousness noun

Examples of mountainous in a Sentence

the seemingly mountainous obstacles he had to overcome while growing up
Recent Examples on the Web On the other, a mural of a rocky, mountainous scene. Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2024 Located high in the mountainous Engadine in Switzerland, St Moritz is the famed Alps ski town in which Badrutt’s Palace is located. Jim Dobson, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 For example, millions of ancient vessels called amphoras were found in a mountainous pile at Monte Testaccio in Rome. Sean Mowbray, Discover Magazine, 29 Feb. 2024 Climate change is throwing the water cycle into chaos across the U.S., with shifting patterns in mountainous parts of the country liable to cause rivers to run at extreme highs — and lows. Nick Duffy, NBC News, 25 Feb. 2024 Its landscape may be mountainous, but its emotional trajectory is a distinct plateau. Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 23 Feb. 2024 During that initial chat, the sibling duo of Elizabeth and Hugo Valdivieso expressed a growing fascination with jazzy prog ensembles, dating back to their devout Christian upbringing in the mountainous state of Oaxaca. Richard Villegas, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 2024 Hailing from the peninsula’s steppe interior, mountainous east, and Black Sea littoral, this population tended to be devoutly Muslim and, for the most part, had never been fully at ease with the republic’s secularist founding project. Soner Cagaptay, Foreign Affairs, 19 Feb. 2024 One of the agents called the Fire Department, but their trucks could not make it all the way down the mountainous border road. Eli Saslow Erin Schaff, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mountainous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English mounteynous, borrowed from Anglo-French muntaignus, from muntaigne, mountaigne mountain + -us -ous

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mountainous was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near mountainous

Cite this Entry

“Mountainous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mountainous. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mountainous

adjective
moun·​tain·​ous ˈmau̇nt-ᵊn-əs How to pronounce mountainous (audio)
-nəs
1
: having many mountains
2
: resembling a mountain : huge

More from Merriam-Webster on mountainous

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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