adj · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
California:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Canada, dialectal:/ˌmɒnəˈtɒnɪk/of the US
Australian:/ˌmɔnəˈtɔnɪk/
New-Zealand:/ˌmɒnəˈtɒnək/
New-Zealand:[ˌmɔ̟nəˈtɔ̟nək]
rhymes with -ɒnɪk
1
adj
Meaning 1
Of or using the Greek system of diacritics which discards the breathings and employs a single accent to indicate stress. It replaced polytonic system in 1982.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Of a function: that either never decreases or never increases as its independent variable increases.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Topics: mathematics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Uttered in a monotone; monotonous.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
adjective
Meaning 4
of a sequence or function; consistently increasing and never decreasing or consistently decreasing and never increasing in value
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: monotone
Antonyms: nonmonotonic
5
adjective satellite
Meaning 5
sounded or spoken in a tone unvarying in pitch
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
the owl's faint monotonous hooting
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: flat, monotone, monotonous
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Ancient Greek μονότονος (monótonos, “monotone”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”), equivalent to monotone + -ic.
Across languages
Translations
15 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
монотонен
(monotonen)
— of or using the Greek system of diacritics which discards the breathings and employs a single accent to indicate stress
Greek:
μονοτονικός
(monotonikós)
— of or using the Greek system of diacritics which discards the breathings and employs a single accent to indicate stress
Asturian:
monótonu
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases
Bulgarian:
монотонен
(monotonen)
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases
Catalan:
monòton
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases
Danish:
monoton
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases
French:
monotone
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases
Galician:
monótono
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases
German:
monoton
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases
Icelandic:
einhalla
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases
Irish:
aontonach
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases
Italian:
monotono
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases
Portuguese:
monótono
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases
Spanish:
monótono
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases
Vietnamese:
đơn điệu
— mathematics: never decreasing or increasing as its independent variable increases