monochromatic
Americanadjective
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of or having one color.
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of, relating to, or having tones of one color in addition to the ground hue.
monochromatic pottery.
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Optics. pertaining to light of one color or to radiation of a single wavelength or narrow range of wavelengths.
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Ophthalmology. of or relating to monochromatism.
adjective
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Also: homochromatic. (of light or other electromagnetic radiation) having only one wavelength
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physics (of moving particles) having only one kinetic energy
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of or relating to monochromatism
noun
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Consisting of a single wavelength of light or other radiation. Lasers, for example, usually produce monochromatic light.
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Having or appearing to have only one color.
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Compare polychromatic
Other Word Forms
- monochromatically adverb
- monochromaticity noun
Etymology
Origin of monochromatic
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.
Emma Grimsley’s soprano had the necessary brightness and coloratura flexibility for Manon, but her monochromatic timbre missed the character’s pathos.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026
Zendaya, known for her dazzling red carpet style, opted for a more lowkey custom Louis Vuitton monochromatic cream suit at this year's Met Gala.
From BBC • May 5, 2025
You’d be forgiven, driving through my part of Arlington, if you thought you had stumbled into a monochromatic alternate reality—Pleasantville, before the color arrives.
From Slate • Mar. 6, 2025
They had day jobs and often debated art theory at Romero’s kitchen table in Angelino Heights, where they wrote their ideas and sketched pictures — one the same featured in Beto’s monochromatic drawing.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 30, 2024
The sky is like a monochromatic contemporary painting, drawing me in with its illusion of depth, pulling me up.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
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.
