monotone
Americannoun
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a vocal utterance or series of speech sounds in one unvaried tone.
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a single tone without harmony or variation in pitch.
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recitation or singing of words in such a tone.
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a person who is unable to discriminate between or to reproduce differences in musical pitch, especially in singing.
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sameness of tone or color, sometimes to a boring degree.
adjective
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consisting of or characterized by a uniform tone of one color.
a monotone drape.
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Mathematics. monotonic.
noun
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a single unvaried pitch level in speech, sound, etc
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utterance, etc, without change of pitch
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lack of variety in style, expression. etc
adjective
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unvarying or monotonous
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Also: monotonic. maths (of a sequence or function) consistently increasing or decreasing in value
Etymology
Origin of monotone
1635–45; < French monotone < Late Greek monótonos monotonous
Explanation
Monotone is a droning, unchanging tone. Nothing can put you to sleep quite as effectively as a teacher talking in a monotone. The Greek word for "one tone" is monotonia, which is the root for both monotone and the closely-related word monotonous, which means "dull and tedious." A continuous sound, especially someone's voice, that doesn't rise and fall in pitch, is a monotone. When someone speaks in a monotone, his voice is flat and boring — plus listeners don't know how the speaker is feeling when everything sounds the same.
Vocabulary lists containing monotone
"The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Brave New World
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Speech and Debate
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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.
“Everyone belongs…” In a low monotone Rustin recited the six principles.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 11, 2025
Ms Hodson wrote: "I asked him about the incident at his admissions meeting and he was monotone, emotionless and very matter of fact about his intentions."
From BBC • Oct. 21, 2025
Where McCann is a firecracker, Ava Dash is a total snooze, the kind of monotone, self-obsessed personality that gives Gen Z a bad name.
From Salon • Aug. 2, 2025
He became a fan favorite, his often monotone cadence differentiating himself from his teammates.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2025
Her words came out in an odd monotone.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
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.
