monotonous

adjective

mo·​not·​o·​nous mə-ˈnä-tə-nəs How to pronounce monotonous (audio)
-ˈnät-nəs
1
: uttered or sounded in one unvarying tone : marked by a sameness of pitch and intensity
2
: tediously uniform or unvarying
monotonously adverb
monotonousness noun

Examples of monotonous in a Sentence

Altogether, millions of mostly obscure entries in the public record offer details of a forced labor system of monotonous enormity. Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery By Another Name, 2008
At times, the grayness of the place was consumed by its own monotonous noise, of bars clanging, of inmates being led through the corridors, of guards yelling out orders … Benjamin Weiser, New York Times Magazine, 6 Aug. 2000
The monotonous chant of the indoctrinated, ideologically armored from head to foot … Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997
The crickets stridulated their everlasting monotonous meaningful note. John Updike, The Witches of Eastwick, 1984
the lecturer's monotonous delivery threatened to put us to sleep
Recent Examples on the Web In the movie, a married couple (Sandler and Aniston) tries to reignite their monotonous relationship with a trip to Europe. Keith Langston, Peoplemag, 1 Mar. 2024 Moviegoers who settle for Villeneuve’s monotonous formula surrender to film culture’s decline. Armond White, National Review, 1 Mar. 2024 At 78 minutes, 2093 ends up feeling monotonous, even as Yeat’s exploration into new sounds and cadences yields occasionally interesting results. Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 2024 As many new parents know, this sudden deluge of new tasks and responsibilities, coupled with a newborn who can’t really interact with you, makes for a pretty monotonous time. Sara Gaynes Levy, Vogue, 19 Jan. 2024 As a co-creator, writer, and executive producer of Rick and Morty, he's also portrayed several characters on the show, the most notable being the no-nonsense, monotonous voice of Birdperson. Huntley Woods, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2023 Reload also reworks one of the game’s more questionable sequences, and — thankfully — has added more things to do and see inside of Tartarus so that the dungeon crawling doesn’t get so monotonous. Andrew Webster, The Verge, 2 Feb. 2024 Coupled with the film’s frequently stagnant plot, his oppressive style results in an experience that somehow becomes simultaneously droll and monotonous. Lucas Trevor, Washington Post, 20 Dec. 2023 Still, for some workers who were supposed to be liberated from the monotonous task of ringing up customers, the tedium just comes in a different form. Anne D'innocenzio, Fortune, 18 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'monotonous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Greek monotonos, from mon- + tonos tone

First Known Use

1776, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of monotonous was in 1776

Dictionary Entries Near monotonous

Cite this Entry

“Monotonous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monotonous. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

monotonous

adjective
mo·​not·​o·​nous mə-ˈnät-ᵊn-əs How to pronounce monotonous (audio)
-ˈnät-nəs
1
: uttered or sounded in one unchanging tone
2
: boring from being always the same
a monotonous task
monotonously adverb
monotonousness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on monotonous

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!