ˈfraŋkənˌstīn sometimes -tēn noun
( -s )
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: after Baron Frankenstein, hero of the novel Frankenstein (1818) by Mary W. Shelley died 1851 English novelist, whose life is ruined by a monster he created from parts of corpses and endowed with life; from his name being taken to be the name of the monster he created
1. : a monster in the shape of a man ; especially : one resembling the man-made monster of the novel Frankenstein
he learned the art of making theatrical masks with plastic materials … would appear before his mother or guests as a Frankenstein with a bloody hole in his forehead, from which protruded a spike — Victor Eisenstein
2. : a work or agency that proves troublesomely uncontrollable especially to its creator ; especially : one that ultimately destroys or ruins its creator
warfare has ever been the creature of man's ingenuity and has today become the Frankenstein that may indeed destroy the human race — A.M.Prentiss
if the scientific method … is not to become a consuming Frankenstein, it must be extended to the admittedly more complex and baffling problems of human relationships — C.F.Richards