<abstract><p>A new measure for intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (IFNs) is proposed to reflect the magnitude of IFNs, and a novel ranking approach for IFNs is presented based on this measure. Furthermore, the theoretical basis of the ranking method is investigated, and several intuitionistic fuzzy monotonic dependent ordered weighted averaging (IFMDOWA) operators are developed, such as the conservative IFMDOWA (COV-IFMDOWA) operator, positive intuitionistic fuzzy monotonic DOWA (POS-IFMDOWA) operator, conservative intuitionistic fuzzy hybrid monotonic dependent order weighted averaging (COV-IFHMDOWA) operator, and positive intuitionistic fuzzy hybrid monotonic dependent order weighted averaging (POS-IFHMDOWA) operator. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the flexibility of our proposed monotonic dependent order weighted averaging operators in a practical decision making process.</p></abstract>