- having only one syllable: a monosyllabic word
- consisting of monosyllables
- using, or speaking in, monosyllables, often so as to seem terse or uncommunicative
Origin of monosyllabic
Medieval Latin monosyllabicus
adjective
- The word cat is an example of a monosyllabic word.
- A sullen teenager who only uses short words to chat with his parents is an example of someone who is monosyllabic.
The definition of monosyllabic is a word with only one syllable or a person who uses short, abrupt words in conversation.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"monosyllabic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Monosyllabic>.
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monosyllabic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Monosyllabic
monosyllabic
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"monosyllabic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Monosyllabic>.
APA Style
monosyllabic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Monosyllabic
monosyllabic
adjective
- Having only one syllable.
- Characterized by or consisting of monosyllables.
Related Forms:
- mon′o·syl·lab′ic·al·ly
adverb
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"monosyllabic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Monosyllabic>.
APA Style
monosyllabic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Monosyllabic
Adjective
(not comparable)
- Consisting of one syllable.
- Using monosyllables, speaking in monosyllables; curt.
Origin
From Late Latin monosyllabicus, from Latin monosyllabus, from Hellenistic Ancient Greek μονοσÏλλαβος (monosullabos).
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"monosyllabic." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Monosyllabic>.
APA Style
monosyllabic. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Monosyllabic
Sentence Examples
- - It consists of thousands of monosyllabic roots, each having a definite meaning.
- Originally Siamese was purely monosyllabic, that is, each true word consisted of a single vowel sound preceded by, or followed by, a consonant.
- The language now consists of about 15,000 words, of which compounds of two monosyllabic words and appropriations from foreign sources form a very large part.
- (iv.) The Siamese or Thai, who speak a monosyllabic language of the Chinese type, but written in an Indian alphabet, represent a late invasion from southern China, whence they descended about the 13th century.
- Burmese, which was spoken by 7,006,495 people in the province in 1901, is a monosyllabic language, with, according to some authorities, three different tones; so that any given syllable may have three entirely different meanings only distinguishable by the intonation when spoken, or by accents or diacritical marks when written.
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WORDS NEAR monosyllabic IN THE DICTIONARY
- monosyllabic
- monosulphide
- monosulphides
- monosulphuret