Word.ws English Dictionary

mondo

mondo noun: a dialogue between master and student designed to obtain an intuitive truth.

Noun

mondo (plural mondos)

  1. (Zen Buddhism) A dialogue between master and student designed to obtain an intuitive truth.

Adjective

mondo (comparative more mondo, superlative most mondo)

  1. (US, slang) Big, large; major, significant.
    • […] 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

Adverb

mondo (not comparable)

  1. (US, slang) Very, extremely, really.
    • "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
    • 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

Forms of mondo

Noun
pluralmondos
Adjective
comparativemore mondo
superlativemost mondo

Origin of mondo

From Japanese 問答 (mondō).

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.

Words formed from mondo

Questions about mondo

What does mondo mean?
Mondo means a dialogue between master and student designed to obtain an intuitive truth.
What part of speech is mondo?
Mondo can be a noun, an adjective or an adverb.
What is the plural of mondo?
The plural of mondo is mondos.

Words near mondo in the dictionary

  1. mondial
  2. mondialisation
  3. mondialization
  4. Mondler
  5. mondmilch
  6. mondo
  7. mondo bizarro
  8. mondo-bizarro
  9. mondongo
  10. mondongos
  11. Mondor

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mondo (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-mondo.ogg.

Cite this entry: “mondo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mondo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.