monotone

[mon-uh-tohn]

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).

Origin of monotone

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for monotone

tedium, dreariness, humdrum, flatness, dryness, sameness, uniformity, similarity, evenness, routine, dullness, continuity, continuance, likeness, oneness, tediousness, ennui, repetitiveness, invariability, equability

Examples from the Web for monotone

Contemporary Examples of 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
“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
Hours passed by and the judge read his charges in a monotone.
Russia Rises Up
Anna Nemtsova
July 19, 2013
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
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

Historical Examples of monotone

There was a monotone of desolation as she went on speaking in a whisper meant for the ears of no other.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
The inexorable voice went on in its monotone, as if he had not spoken.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Then her voice rose above the monotone that had contented her hitherto.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
"Her husband caused it by kicking her in the stomach," she said in a monotone.
L'Assommoir
Emile Zola
The voice was a monotone, minus expression, almost minus life.
The White Desert
Courtney Ryley Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for monotone

monotone

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

"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.