Word.ws English Dictionary

teratoid

UK/ˈtɛɹ.ə.tɔɪd/

teratoid adjective: monster-like, exhibiting abnormal development.

Adjective

teratoid (comparative more teratoid, superlative most teratoid)

  1. Monster-like, exhibiting abnormal development.
    • Lucien, staring goggle-eyed at the only brother he’s ever had, is standing very still, face still unwittingly teratoid, the broom at an angle in his hand, the Colt dangling at his side, […]1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 486

Noun

teratoid (plural teratoids)

  1. An abnormal tumor similar to a teratoma.
    • In each of these divisions there are subdivisions, according as the parasite consists of a more or less recognisable fœtus, or only of a mass of fœtal tissue (teratomata, teratoids, dermoids).1903, Encyclopaedia Medica, volume 13, page 138
    • They can be divided into dermoids (only an epithelial layer present) and teratoids (all three germ layers present).2005, Richard A. Bordow, Andrew L. Ries, Timothy A. Morris, Manual of Clinical Problems in Pulmonary Medicine, 6th edition, page 610
  2. A mutant.
    • I wanted to explore how at the launch of a new millennium many people were beginning to feel like teratoids in the global commodity exchange.2002, Lance Olsen, “Omniphage: Rock 'n' Roll and Avant-Pop Science Fiction”, in Edging Into the Future: Science Fiction and Contemporary Cultural Transformation, →ISBN, page 51
    • The objects floating in the bath and lazing about on the bathroom's floor are all monsters, teratoids dehumanized by the husking of their clothes.2002, Aiko Ito, Graeme Wilson, I Am a Cat, volume 2, translation of original by Natsume Soseki, →ISBN, page 345

Synonyms of teratoid

Forms of teratoid

Adjective
comparativemore teratoid
superlativemost teratoid
Noun
pluralteratoids

Origin of teratoid

From terato- + -oid.

Words formed from teratoid

Questions about teratoid

What does teratoid mean?
Teratoid means monster-like, exhibiting abnormal development.
What part of speech is teratoid?
Teratoid can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce teratoid?
Teratoid is pronounced /ˈtɛɹ.ə.tɔɪd/ (UK).

Words near teratoid in the dictionary

  1. teratogenicity
  2. teratogenics
  3. teratogenous
  4. teratogens
  5. teratogeny
  6. teratoid
  7. teratoids
  8. teratologic
  9. teratological
  10. teratologically
  11. teratologies

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: teratoid (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.

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