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Glite Dictionary
🧪 A risky creator ⚡ A dangerous creation
modern-day Frankenstein

modern-day Frankenstein

8.3
A machine or system made from mismatched parts that becomes dangerous and hard to control
  • noun
  • /ˈmɒdərn deɪ ˈfræŋkənstaɪn/
  • Literature
translation icon : Frankenstein moderno
  • The government's new facial-recognition system is a modern-day Frankenstein, assembled from incompatible modules.

Examples

  • Startups worry their AI prototype could become a modern-day Frankenstein if deployed without proper safety checks.

  • They called the sprawling platform of plugins a modern-day Frankenstein that threatened users' privacy.

  • Is this a modern-day Frankenstein?

  • The new AI system is a true modern-day Frankenstein!

  • The company's latest invention was deemed a modern-day Frankenstein, combining old technology in ways that many experts found alarming.

  • Engineers cautioned that the new drone, a modern-day Frankenstein, raised ethical concerns due to its unpredictable behavior.

  • Critics labeled the poorly planned urban development project a modern-day Frankenstein, composed of mismatched structures that posed safety risks.

Synonyms

synth
vsmodern-day Frankenstein
11 9.4

A machine made to look and act like a human

emphasizes problematic assembly and ethical danger rather than neutral artificiality
Frankenstein's monster
vsmodern-day Frankenstein
  • Literature
1 7.8

A creature that a scientist brings to life in Mary Shelley's novel

focuses on assembled non-human projects considered dangerous and hard to control
Frankenstein
vsmodern-day Frankenstein
1 8.2

A creation that escapes its maker and causes harm

is assembled from incompatible parts and seen as dangerous and unethical

How Dangerous

modern-day Frankenstein
  • Literature
8.3

Surface Forms

modern-day Frankenstein singular
modern-day Frankensteins plural

Morphology

modern-day + Frankenstein

The phrase combines the adjective 'modern-day' (contemporary) with the figurative noun 'Frankenstein' (a creation that harms its maker), so the overall sense of a contemporary dangerous or uncontrollable creation is directly derivable from the parts. This straightforward adjective–noun composition is a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Modern-day Frankenstein comes from the same story where a man built a monster from many different body parts that did not fit well together. That's why people use modern-day Frankenstein for a machine or project made from mixed parts that becomes 'dangerous' or hard to control.