monotonous Hear it!

monotonous Definition

mo·noto·nous (mə nät'n əs)

adjective

  1. going on in the same tone without variation
  2. having little or no variation or variety
  3. tiresome because unvarying

Etymology: LL monotonus < Gr monotonos: mono- & tone

monotonous Related Forms
mo·noto·nously adverb mo·noto·nous·ness noun
monotonous Synonyms

monotonous

modif.

  1. Tiresome

    tedious, wearisome, wearying; see dull 4.

  2. Having but one tone

    monotonic, monotonical, unvarying, lacking variety, in one key, unchanged, reiterated, recurrent, single, uniform.

    Antonyms varying*, various*, multiple.

monotonous Usage Examples

Preposition: after

  • while: All that sunshine and seafood can get get monotonous after a while.

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • make: Parades can be fun, but too much parading can make festivity look monotonous.
  • get: You certainly know when you are hit but the rotor sound gets a bit monotonous after a while.
  • become: Your style, Willy, has become a bit monotonous.

Modifies a noun

  • regularity: Ten minutes later, with monotonous regularity, he was back.
  • repetition: If history teaches anything, it teaches this, and with monotonous repetition.
  • tone: I was getting frantic with the monotonous engaged tone of the phone.
  • diet: Hard fare: a deliberately monotonous diet, with exactly the same food on the same day each week.
  • voice: Nobody likes to listen to flat, monotonous voices.
  • routine: Are your finances in disarray, is your life a monotonous routine, do you feel lost or unsure of your purpose in life?

Modifying Another Word

  • somewhat: Science writing has, as a consequence, been rather limited in its range of forms, and somewhat monotonous in style.
  • rather: A second phase of planting is planned for Priory Gardens to enhance the rather monotonous bank of single species shrub planting.
  • almost: This is apparent in the almost monotonous string of " ands " in the English Versions of chapter one.
  • quite: This food is quite monotonous although you add spices to most of the food to get some variety.
  • too: When the grammar lessons were becoming too monotonous I would retreat to the questions and unknowns of global politics.
  • little: Food is usually good, although sometimes a little monotonous, but the picnic lunches are very good and most drinks are included.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: Anything longer than the first round just becomes monotonous.
  • get: Just seems to get more monotonous with each listen.
  • seem: While the combat side of the game seems slightly monotonous, the tactical and strategic area is where this game comes into its own.
  • grow: He said, " This thing is growing monotonous!
monotonous Quotes

To thinkofone's absent love is verysweet; but it becomes monotonous† I doubt whether any girl would be satisfied with her lover's mind if she knew the whole of it.

—Trollope, Anthony

   A waste of modern tenements, mean, monotonous, and wearisome.

—Thorne,James