monotone
monotone Lexical Profile
monotone Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Characterized by an unvarying vocal pitch or intonation; lacking inflection or expressiveness.
"The witness gave a flat, monotone account of the evening's events."
Executed in or consisting of a single color or shades of a single color.
"She preferred a sleek, monotone wardrobe consisting entirely of charcoal gray."
Consistently increasing or consistently decreasing in value without reversing direction (of a mathematical sequence or function).
"Because the function is strictly monotone on that interval, it is guaranteed to have an inverse."
• noun
A continuing sound, especially of someone's voice, that is unchanging in pitch and without intonation.
"The professor spoke in a low monotone that made it difficult for the students to stay awake."
A lack of variety in style, color, or expression; tedious sameness.
"The winter landscape was a bleak monotone of gray sky and barren fields."
• verb
To utter, recite, or chant in an unvarying vocal pitch without inflection.
"The clerk monotoned the standard safety instructions to every new group of visitors."
Word Nuance & Usage
While 'monotone' as an adjective typically refers specifically to an unvarying pitch of voice or a single visual color scheme, 'monotonous' is more broadly used to describe anything dull, repetitive, or tedious.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 17th century from Modern Latin monotonus, which derives from Ancient Greek monotonos ('of one tone'), combining monos ('single, alone') and tonos ('tone, stretching, pitch of voice').