monosyllable
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of monosyllable
Explanation
A monosyllable is a word that has only one syllable, or beat of sound. The sentence, "A good friend is hard to find, but a good dog is not," contains only monosyllables. A single syllable of speech has one vowel sound, which could be written with two letters — like ea sometimes makes the long e sound — and may have consonants around it. More than half of English words are monosyllables, meaning they have just one vowel sound. Most basic words are monosyllables, like a, the, he, and she. But longer words can be monosyllables, too: The nine-letter word stretched is a monosyllable (it's pronounced /strecht/).
Vocabulary lists containing monosyllable
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.
Mr. Brook connects such disparate elements in conversation, linking them all to his favorite monosyllable.
From New York Times • Sep. 18, 2019
The OED recognises thing in this sense, but not commodity, and tragically not monosyllable either.
From The Guardian • Mar. 25, 2016
As Nicolson argues, "face" is a simple, plain English monosyllable, but it also has a resonant double meaning.
From The Guardian • Feb. 19, 2011
The founder of the Ritz Hotels did not choose that curious monosyllable by chance; Ritz was his last name; his first, splendidly enough, was C�sar.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Isn’t ‘thou’ a little sentimental?” asked Jo, privately thinking it a lovely monosyllable.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
