monolingual
Americanadjective
-
knowing or able to use only one language; monoglot.
-
spoken or written in only one language.
noun
adjective
noun
Usage
What does monolingual mean? Monolingual is used to describe someone who can speak or understand only one language. It can also mean written in, spoken in, or involving only one language. Monolingual is often used in contrast with terms like bilingual (able to speak two languages), trilingual (able to speak three languages), and multilingual (able to speak more than two and especially several languages). The ability to speak or understand only one language or the regular use of only one language is called monolingualism. Example: One of my great regrets is being monolingual and not learning another language when I was younger.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of monolingual
Explanation
If you're monolingual, you speak just one language. If you are monolingual, your chances of landing a job as a translator are pretty darn slim. Your whole family might be monolingual, while your best friend comes from a family that speaks Spanish at home and English at school — in other words, they're bilingual. Being monolingual can be limiting, since you can only communicate clearly with others who speak your language. Learning new languages and becoming bilingual (or even multilingual, speaking several languages) is also good for your brain. The Greek root mono means "one," and the Latin lingua means "tongue" or "language."
Vocabulary lists containing monolingual
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When the monolingual video condolence was released, Mr. Carney said he was “very disappointed” and accused Mr. Rousseau of lacking judgment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
While many nations had previously defined themselves by a shared language, Americans came to see English not just as the national language, but monolingual English as part of their identity.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2026
Replacing this with automated mimicry suggests a disturbing turn toward commodified and monolingual film culture, she says.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2025
“In the United States, we’ve been so monolingual, and we’re missing that brain development piece that is so enhancing for our students,” Ortiz-Self said.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 6, 2024
And Yo was running, like the mad, into the safety of her first tongue, where the proudly monolingual John could not catch her, even if he tried.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
"Some of the literature says these differences aren't so pronounced, but that could be because of the tasks linguists use to research differences between bilinguals and monolinguals."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2023
The two groups of subjects included functional monolinguals and bilinguals.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2023
"Remarkably, the bilinguals really divide up the space much more than the monolinguals, in spite of the fact that they're still primarily Tsimane' speakers," Gibson says.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2023
Instead of using different parts of the brain, the participants’ brains appeared to use the same basic network as monolinguals to try to make sense of the sounds, regardless of which language they heard.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 3, 2023
Fedorenko’s initial subjects had been English-speaking monolinguals, or bilinguals who also spoke Spanish or Mandarin.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 27, 2018
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
