monotone

[ mon-uh-tohn ]

/ ˈmɒn əˌtoʊn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR monotone ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a vocal utterance or series of speech sounds in one unvaried tone.

a single tone without harmony or variation in pitch.

recitation or singing of words in such a tone.

a person who is unable to discriminate between or to reproduce differences in musical pitch, especially in singing.

sameness of tone or color, sometimes to a boring degree.

adjective

monotonous.

consisting of or characterized by a uniform tone of one color: a monotone drape.Compare monochromatic(defs 1, 2).

Mathematics. monotonic(def 2).

Nearby words

monotherapy, monothermia, monotint, monotocous, monotonal, monotone, monotonic, monotonize, monotonous, monotony, monotrematous

Origin of monotone

1635–45; < French monotone < Late Greek monótonos monotonous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for monotone

The computer graphics are monotone overlaid in Lucky Charms leprechaun green.
Up To a Point: Binge Watching Putin's Propaganda Network|P. J. O’Rourke|September 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“And to see great fashion,” he added half-heartedly, in monotone and with no punctuation.
Justin Bieber's Abs Cannot Save Him|Tim Teeman|September 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Hours passed by and the judge read his charges in a monotone.
Russia Rises Up|Anna Nemtsova|July 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Good,” he said, in a monotone voice that sounded more like he meant “bad.
My Night at the Golden Globe Awards|Ramin Setoodeh|January 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Their carefully scripted words, examined beforehand no doubt by a phalanx of spinmeisters, were barely above a monotone.
Buzz Bissinger: Ban Penn State Football!|Buzz Bissinger|July 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Braye spoke in a monotone, his eyes on the floor, his hands nervously twitching.
The Room with the Tassels|Carolyn Wells
A plaintive, tremulous voice began to recite in monotone some stanzas which told how very sad and mournful the whole scene was.
Mayflower (Flor de mayo)|Vicente Blasco Ibez
The door safely shut, she turned a steady look upon Periors rough head, silhouetted in monotone on the pale landscape outside.
The Confounding of Camelia|Anne Douglas Sedgwick
We turned from the contemplation of these two memorials and the monotone of the old monk's prayer filled the church.
Cathedral Cities of Spain|William Wiehe Collins
Nature in primitive wildness encompassed us, but life's song never ran into a monotone.
Last of the Great Scouts|Helen Cody Wetmore

British Dictionary definitions for monotone

monotone

/ (ˈmɒnəˌtəʊn) /

noun

a single unvaried pitch level in speech, sound, etc

utterance, etc, without change of pitch

lack of variety in style, expression. etc

adjective

unvarying or monotonous

Also: monotonic (ˌmɒnəˈtɒnɪk) maths (of a sequence or function) consistently increasing or decreasing in value

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for monotone

monotone

"unvarying tone in music or speaking," 1640s; see monotony. OED says use of the word as a noun "is peculiar to Eng." Related: Monotonic; monotonically.

monotone

noun

adjective

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Nearby words

Origin of monotone

Examples from the Web for monotone

British Dictionary definitions for monotone

monotone

noun

adjective

Word Origin and History for monotone

monotone