Frankenstein's-monsterとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

In Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein (1818), Dr. Frankenstein assembled a monster from human corpses; it eventually escaped his control.

名詞

Frankenstein's monster (plural Frankenstein's monsters)

1. (figurative) A thing that is cobbled together from parts of other things.

   Synonyms: Frankenstein, frankenstein, Frankensteinian monster, frankensteinian monster

   • 1991, Euan George Nisbet, Living Earth: A Short History of Life and Its Home, page 84:

     Like the English language, the eukaryote cell is a chimera, a Frankenstein's monster, assembled from bits and pieces of genetic information...

   • 1995, Roger Horrocks, Jo Campling, Male Myths and Icons: Masculinity in Popular Culture, page 141:

     He is like a Frankenstein's monster in reverse: everything that is pretty is combined together to produce a perfect androgyne.

2. (figurative) A creation that overpowers or slips out of the control of its creator, often proceeding to turn on its creator or harm others.
   • 1968, Harold Joseph Laski, Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time, page 109:

     They created a Frankenstein's monster which they did not imagine could grow out of their control.

   • 1977, Norman R. Augustine, Augustine's Laws, page 68:

     Somehow, the law does not always seem to serve those who created it, becoming at times a Frankenstein's monster of sorts.

固有名詞

Frankenstein's monster

1. The creature from Mary Shelley's novel.

Further reading

• Frankenstein's monster on Wikipedia.Wikipedia