Meanings
plural monotonies
- Tedium as a result of repetition or a lack of variety.
Yet second-hand romance and second-hand emotion are surely better than the dull, soul-killing monotony which life brings to most of the human race.
1907, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 1, in Through the Magic Door, archived from the original on 12 Apr 20112 more examples
It matters little to trace the rapidity of the land journey, or the monotony of the sea voyage—alike unmarked by adventure. Robert Evelyn landed at Southampton,...
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter II, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 24Transform my death into a conduit This body separate from the fear of fear Inside a coping mechanism of monotony I will destroy the double vision that I was forced to leave
2023, “Angel Eyes”, performed by SpiritboxSynonyms: boredom
- mathematicsThe property of a monotonic function.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounTedium as a result of repetition or a lack of variety.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe quality of wearisome constancy, routine, and lack of variety
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekμονοτονία“sameness of tone, monotony”
- Late Latinmonotonia
- Frenchmonotonie
- Englishmonotony
From French monotonie, from Late Latin monotonia, from Ancient Greek μονοτονία (monotonía, “sameness of tone, monotony”).
More words from French, Late Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian монотонност, еднообразие
- монотонност (monotonnost)tedium
- еднообразие (ednoobrazie)tedium
Catalan monotonia
- monotoniatedium
Chinese Mandarin 單調 /单调, 單調性 /单调性
- 單調 /单调 (dāndiào)tedium
- 單調性 /单调性 (dāndiàoxìng)property of mathematical function
Czech monotónnost
- monotónnosttedium
Danish monotoni
- monotonitedium
Esperanto monotoneco
- monotonecotedium
Finnish yksitoikkoisuus
- yksitoikkoisuustedium
French monotonie
- monotonietedium
German Eintönigkeit, Monotonie
- Eintönigkeittedium
- Monotonietedium
- Monotonieproperty of mathematical function
Greek μονοτονία
- μονοτονία (monotonía)property of mathematical function
Hungarian monotónia
- monotóniatedium
Icelandic einhalli
- einhalliproperty of mathematical function
Irish leadrán, liostacht
- leadrántedium
- liostachttedium
Māori takeo
- takeotedium
Portuguese monotonia, monotonia
- monotoniatedium
- monotoniaproperty of mathematical function
Romanian monotonie, monotonie
- monotonietedium
- monotonieproperty of mathematical function
Spanish monotonía
- monotoníatedium
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
monotony. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monotony
“monotony.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monotony. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “monotony,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monotony.
Source: monotony on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.