| / English Dictionary |
MONOTONOUS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Tediously repetitious or lacking in variety
Example:
nothing is so monotonous as the sea
Synonyms:
humdrum; monotonous
Classified under:
Similar:
dull (lacking in liveliness or animation)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Sounded or spoken in a tone unvarying in pitch
Example:
the owl's faint monotonous hooting
Synonyms:
flat; monotone; monotonic; monotonous
Classified under:
Similar:
unmodulated (characterized by lack of variation in pitch, tone, or volume)
Context examples:
A slow growing neuroendocrine tumor, composed of uniform, round, or polygonal cells having monotonous, centrally located nuclei and small nucleoli, infrequent mitoses, and no necrosis.
(Carcinoid Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)
It is characterized by destructive infiltration of lymph nodes and extranodal sites by a monotonous population of transformed B-lymphocytes or plasma cells.
(Monomorphic B-Cell Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)
It was a monotonous yet ever-changing scene.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
The monotonous drip of the coffee from the table to the floor merely emphasized the silence.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Many New Horizons scientists expected Charon to be a monotonous, crater-battered world; instead, they’re finding a landscape covered with mountains, canyons, landslides, surface-color variations and more.
(Pluto’s Big Moon Charon Reveals a Colorful and Violent History, NASA)
A breast lesion characterized by the presence of dilated terminal ductal lobular units in which the epithelial lining has been replaced by a single layer of mildly atypical cells, or there is atypical, monotonous epithelial hyperplasia of three to five layers.
(Flat Ductal Epithelial Atypia of the Breast, NCI Thesaurus)
Lydia gaped as he opened the volume, and before he had, with very monotonous solemnity, read three pages, she interrupted him with: Do you know, mamma, that my uncle Phillips talks of turning away Richard; and if he does, Colonel Forster will hire him.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Anything more monotonous and wearying could not be imagined, for, even at the most open places, I could not see more than ten or twelve yards, while usually my vision was limited to the back of Lord John's cotton jacket in front of me, and to the yellow wall within a foot of me on either side.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It is a picture, and I can see it now,—the jagged edges of the hole in the side of the cabin, through which the grey fog swirled and eddied; the empty upholstered seats, littered with all the evidences of sudden flight, such as packages, hand satchels, umbrellas, and wraps; the stout gentleman who had been reading my essay, encased in cork and canvas, the magazine still in his hand, and asking me with monotonous insistence if I thought there was any danger; the red-faced man, stumping gallantly around on his artificial legs and buckling life-preservers on all comers; and finally, the screaming bedlam of women.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Maria, listening anxiously outside his door, was perturbed by his monotonous utterance.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
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