frankenstein
n. countablen. something that is made by putting many different, often mismatched parts together. It usually describes a person or thing that becomes dangerous or impossible to control.
n. a creation that eventually causes the ruin of its creator; an entity composed of disparate or mismatched parts. Often used metaphorically to describe a project or team that has grown beyond its intended scope.
The old car was a frankenstein of parts from three different models.
The manager built a frankenstein of a team by hiring stars from rival clubs who refused to play together.
Critics argued that the new legislation was a legal frankenstein, stitched together from conflicting amendments that satisfied no one and created endless confusion in the courts.
From German Frankenstein, various places named for Franken (“Franks, Frankish”) + Stein (“stone”). The use of referencing mad scientists derives from Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, where Victor Frankenstein assembles a man from pieces of various corpses and brings him to life with electricity. Use of the reference to the monster itself is an ellipsis of the earlier Frankenstein's monster, with the monster's usual modern appearance derived from Boris Karloff's performance in the 1931 film Frankenstein.
Often used as a metaphor for a creation that turns against its creator. When referring to the literary character or the creator, it is capitalised as 'Frankenstein'.
He was a frankenstein monster.He was a Frankenstein's monster.In strict literary terms, Frankenstein is the creator, not the creature, though the name is commonly used for the creation in informal speech.