monotonous

English

Etymology

From monotone +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: mə-nŏtʹən-əs, IPA^(key): /məˈnɒtənəs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) enPR: mə-nŏtʹən-əs, IPA^(key): /məˈnɑtənəs/
• Hyphenation: mo‧no‧ton‧ous

Adjective

monotonous (comparative more monotonous, superlative most monotonous)

1. Having an unvarying pitch or tone.

   Synonyms: level, monotone, monotonic

   • 1825 June 22, [Walter Scott], chapter V, in Tales of the Crusaders. […], volume I (The Betrothed), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 95:

     "But my daughter—but the Lady Eveline"—said the Fleming, with some slight change in his monotonous voice, which seemed to express doubt and perplexity—"You are cruel conquerors, and—"

2. Tedious, repetitious, or lacking in variety.

   Synonyms: samely, routine; see also Thesaurus:repetitive, Thesaurus:steady

   Antonym: various

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 49:

     [L]istening for a moment, she heard the monotonous and heavy tread of the soldier echoing through the passage.

Related terms

• monotone
• monotony

Translations

having an unvarying tone or pitch

Bulgarian: монотонен (bg) (monotonen), еднообразен (bg) (ednoobrazen) Catalan: monòton (ca) Czech: monotónní (cs) Danish: enstonig, monoton (da) Dutch: monotoon (nl), eentonig (nl) Esperanto: unutona Finnish: yksitoikkoinen (fi), monotoninen (fi) Galician: monótono German: monoton (de) Greek: μονότονος (el) (monótonos) Ancient: μονότονος (monótonos) Hebrew: מונוטוני (he) (monotóni) Hungarian: egyhangú (hu), monoton (hu) Irish: (of speech) aontonach Italian: monocorde (it) Japanese: 単調な (ja) (tanchō na) Macedonian: мо́нотон (mónoton), едноо́бразен (ednoóbrazen), едно́личен (ednóličen), е́днолик (édnolik) Polish: monotonny (pl) Portuguese: monótono (pt) Russian: моното́нный (ru) (monotónnyj), однозву́чный (ru) (odnozvúčnyj), одното́нный (ru) (odnotónnyj) Scottish Gaelic: aon-ghuthach Spanish: monótono (es) Swedish: entonig (sv), monoton (sv) Turkish: tekdüze (tr)

tedious, repetitious or lacking in variety

Arabic: مُمِلّ (mumill) Bulgarian: скучен (bg) (skučen) Catalan: monòton (ca) Cebuano: puol, sumo, sum-ol Chinese: Mandarin: 單調／单调 (zh) (dāndiào) Czech: monotónní (cs), neměnný (cs), ztrnulý, fádní, jednotvárný (cs), nudný (cs) Danish: ensformig, monoton (da) Dutch: monotoon (nl), eentonig (nl), saai (nl) Esperanto: monotona (eo) Finnish: yksitoikkoinen (fi), monotoninen (fi), pitkäveteinen (fi), pitkäpiimäinen (fi), ikävystyttävä (fi), kyllästyttävä (fi) Galician: monótono German: monoton (de), eintönig (de), abwechslungslos (de) Greek: ανιαρός (el) (aniarós) Hungarian: egyhangú (hu), monoton (hu) Italian: monotono (it) Japanese: 単調な (ja) (tanchō na) Macedonian: до́саден (dósaden), здо́девен (zdódeven) Portuguese: monótono (pt) Russian: моното́нный (ru) (monotónnyj), однообра́зный (ru) (odnoobráznyj), ску́чный (ru) (skúčnyj) Spanish: monótono (es) Swedish: enformig (sv) Turkish: tekdüze (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: (please verify) monotone (fr), (please verify) ennuyeux (fr) Korean: (please verify) 단조로운 (danjoroun) Latin: (please verify) monotonus Mandarin: (please verify) 单调 (zh) (dāndiào) Swedish: (please verify) monoton (sv)

Anagrams

• ontonomous