Monotonous
adjective
Continuing the same way without any changes or excitement.
The lecture was monotonous and everyone was falling asleep.
Often appears as...
- monotonous voice
- monotonous work
adjective
Same tone of sound without any rise or fall in pitch.
His monotonous voice was making the listeners lose interest.
Often appears as...
- monotonous speech
- monotonous tune
adjective
Very repetitive and unchanging.
The monotonous landscape made the journey seem longer.
Often appears as...
- monotonous scenery
- monotonous panorama
Usage tips
Disapproving
Technical
adjective
Continuing the same way without any changes or excitement.
The lecture was monotonous and everyone was falling asleep.
Often appears as...
- monotonous voice
- monotonous work
adjective
Same tone of sound without any rise or fall in pitch.
His monotonous voice was making the listeners lose interest.
Often appears as...
- monotonous speech
- monotonous tune
adjective
Very repetitive and unchanging.
The monotonous landscape made the journey seem longer.
Often appears as...
- monotonous scenery
- monotonous panorama
Usage tips
Disapproving
Technical
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Lack of Variety
Emphasizes a lack of diversity or change in a situation or activity.
The factory job was so monotonous, every day involved the same repetitive tasks.
Pro Tip 2/3Negative Emotion
Often used to express a negative feeling towards a boring or repetitive activity.
She found the music lesson monotonous because they practiced the same piece over and over.
Pro Tip 3/3Response to Boredom
Can describe a person's monotonous approach in response to boredom or disinterest.
His monotonous reply showed he had lost interest in the topic.
Pro Tip 1/3Lack of Variety
Emphasizes a lack of diversity or change in a situation or activity.
The factory job was so monotonous, every day involved the same repetitive tasks.
Pro Tip 2/3Negative Emotion
Often used to express a negative feeling towards a boring or repetitive activity.
She found the music lesson monotonous because they practiced the same piece over and over.
Pro Tip 3/3Response to Boredom
Can describe a person's monotonous approach in response to boredom or disinterest.
His monotonous reply showed he had lost interest in the topic.
Pro Tip 1/3Lack of Variety
Emphasizes a lack of diversity or change in a situation or activity.
The factory job was so monotonous, every day involved the same repetitive tasks.
Pro Tip 2/3Negative Emotion
Often used to express a negative feeling towards a boring or repetitive activity.
She found the music lesson monotonous because they practiced the same piece over and over.
Pro Tip 3/3Response to Boredom
Can describe a person's monotonous approach in response to boredom or disinterest.
His monotonous reply showed he had lost interest in the topic.
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Video examples
Music and creativity in...
and it's where we get the word harmony. Music was used as a form of medicine to treat illnesses and physical complaints, as a vital accompaniment to sporting contests, and as a means to keep workers in time as they toiled away on monotonous or menial tasks. One of the most important applications
Video examples
The treadmill's dark and...
with taming his more boisterous inmates, writing that the "monotonous steadiness, and not its severity...constitutes its terror," a quote many still agree with. And treadmills lasted in England until the late 19th century, when they were banned for being excessively cruel
Video examples
After the Avalanche:...
but it's very monotonous and it provides you with a lot of time to think, and what do I do when I think? I get super uncomfortable because I have to focus on what's happening in my life. It was a long, long walk, and I started to think about some real serious things.
Video examples
Adam Grant: How to stop...
What moved the needle was randomly assigning them to meet one student whose scholarship had been funded by their work. Now, instead of focusing on the monotonous process of making calls, they were absorbed in a meaningful purpose of helping to fund tuition.
Video examples
Chris Burkard: The joy...
and that challenge intrigued me. I began this sort of personal crusade against the mundane, because if there's one thing I've realized, it's that any career, even one as seemingly glamorous as surf photography, has the danger of becoming monotonous.
Video examples
The way we think about...
the work they do has none of the characteristics that get us up and out of bed and off to the office every morning? How is it that we allow the majority of people on the planet to do work that is monotonous, meaningless and soul-deadening?
Video examples
The Case for Radically...
so simplistic and devoid of character? Well, it turns out, I'm not the only one who's alarmed by what's happening in our towns and cities. There's research showing that these buildings aren't just simplistic and monotonous.
Video examples
How to use a semicolon -...
all of the same length, each separated by periods. Things would get monotonous very fast. In that situation, semicolons bring fluidity and variation to writing by connecting related clauses.
Video examples
East vs west -- the...
who rolls a rock up a mountain all day only to find the boulder rolled down at night. Don't live a life which is monotonous, mediocre, meaningless. Be spectacular! --
Video examples
Tycho Brahe, the...
How do you imagine the life of a scientist? Boring and monotonous, spending endless hours in the lab with no social interaction?
Video examples
Music and creativity in...
and it's where we get the word harmony. Music was used as a form of medicine to treat illnesses and physical complaints, as a vital accompaniment to sporting contests, and as a means to keep workers in time as they toiled away on monotonous or menial tasks. One of the most important applications
Video examples
The treadmill's dark and...
with taming his more boisterous inmates, writing that the "monotonous steadiness, and not its severity...constitutes its terror," a quote many still agree with. And treadmills lasted in England until the late 19th century, when they were banned for being excessively cruel
Video examples
After the Avalanche:...
but it's very monotonous and it provides you with a lot of time to think, and what do I do when I think? I get super uncomfortable because I have to focus on what's happening in my life. It was a long, long walk, and I started to think about some real serious things.
Video examples
Adam Grant: How to stop...
What moved the needle was randomly assigning them to meet one student whose scholarship had been funded by their work. Now, instead of focusing on the monotonous process of making calls, they were absorbed in a meaningful purpose of helping to fund tuition.
Video examples
Chris Burkard: The joy...
and that challenge intrigued me. I began this sort of personal crusade against the mundane, because if there's one thing I've realized, it's that any career, even one as seemingly glamorous as surf photography, has the danger of becoming monotonous.
Video examples
The way we think about...
the work they do has none of the characteristics that get us up and out of bed and off to the office every morning? How is it that we allow the majority of people on the planet to do work that is monotonous, meaningless and soul-deadening?
Video examples
The Case for Radically...
so simplistic and devoid of character? Well, it turns out, I'm not the only one who's alarmed by what's happening in our towns and cities. There's research showing that these buildings aren't just simplistic and monotonous.
Video examples
How to use a semicolon -...
all of the same length, each separated by periods. Things would get monotonous very fast. In that situation, semicolons bring fluidity and variation to writing by connecting related clauses.
Video examples
East vs west -- the...
who rolls a rock up a mountain all day only to find the boulder rolled down at night. Don't live a life which is monotonous, mediocre, meaningless. Be spectacular! --
Video examples
Tycho Brahe, the...
How do you imagine the life of a scientist? Boring and monotonous, spending endless hours in the lab with no social interaction?
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Bee Wilson
British Journalist
The main influence on a child's palate may no longer be a parent but a series of food manufacturers whose products - despite their illusion of infinite choice - deliver a monotonous flavour hit, quite unlike the more varied flavours of traditional cuisine.
Quote examples
Nancy Kress
American Writer
Many novice writers try to avoid using 'said' by substituting synonyms: 'he uttered,' 'she murmured,' 'he questioned.' It's true that any word repeated too often becomes monotonous, but substitutions for 'said' can be worse than its repetition.
Quote examples
Pierre Loti
French Writer
It is said that many children who live in the central provinces, away from the ocean, have a great longing to see it. I who had never been away from the monotonous country surrounding us looked forward eagerly to seeing the mountains.
Quote examples
Nev Schulman
American Producer
If we don't hope, if we don't stay positive - at least about love, or finding love - then the rest of life becomes really just painful to think about, because for the most part, you know, day-to-day stuff is monotonous.
Quote examples
Jasmin Bhasin
Indian Actress
I think it is really important for all of us to take breaks because we get so bored with our daily monotonous lives. I feel we become robotic so it is important to break that vicious circle in which we get caught.
Quote examples
Arjun Kapoor
Indian Actor
As a host on TV, one has to engage the audience and contestants on the show. One has to bring a new element to their personality while hosting so that it doesn't look monotonous to the audience.
Quote examples
Isabella Bird
English Explorer
To a person sitting quietly at home, Rocky Mountain traveling, like Rocky Mountain scenery, must seem very monotonous; but not so to me, to whom the pure, dry mountain air is the elixir of life.
Quote examples
Rani Mukerji
Indian Actress
It could get saturated or monotonous if I would do the same characters again and again. That is why, to save myself from that feeling, I take time out to choose roles that excite me.
Quote examples
Sudha Chandran
The negative characters made me very popular but were getting too monotonous.
Quote examples
B. C. Forbes
Scottish Journalist
Golf without bunkers and hazards would be tame and monotonous. So would life.
Quote examples
Bee Wilson
British Journalist
The main influence on a child's palate may no longer be a parent but a series of food manufacturers whose products - despite their illusion of infinite choice - deliver a monotonous flavour hit, quite unlike the more varied flavours of traditional cuisine.
Quote examples
Nancy Kress
American Writer
Many novice writers try to avoid using 'said' by substituting synonyms: 'he uttered,' 'she murmured,' 'he questioned.' It's true that any word repeated too often becomes monotonous, but substitutions for 'said' can be worse than its repetition.
Quote examples
Pierre Loti
French Writer
It is said that many children who live in the central provinces, away from the ocean, have a great longing to see it. I who had never been away from the monotonous country surrounding us looked forward eagerly to seeing the mountains.
Quote examples
Nev Schulman
American Producer
If we don't hope, if we don't stay positive - at least about love, or finding love - then the rest of life becomes really just painful to think about, because for the most part, you know, day-to-day stuff is monotonous.
Quote examples
Jasmin Bhasin
Indian Actress
I think it is really important for all of us to take breaks because we get so bored with our daily monotonous lives. I feel we become robotic so it is important to break that vicious circle in which we get caught.
Quote examples
Arjun Kapoor
Indian Actor
As a host on TV, one has to engage the audience and contestants on the show. One has to bring a new element to their personality while hosting so that it doesn't look monotonous to the audience.
Quote examples
Isabella Bird
English Explorer
To a person sitting quietly at home, Rocky Mountain traveling, like Rocky Mountain scenery, must seem very monotonous; but not so to me, to whom the pure, dry mountain air is the elixir of life.
Quote examples
Rani Mukerji
Indian Actress
It could get saturated or monotonous if I would do the same characters again and again. That is why, to save myself from that feeling, I take time out to choose roles that excite me.
Quote examples
Sudha Chandran
The negative characters made me very popular but were getting too monotonous.
Quote examples
B. C. Forbes
Scottish Journalist
Golf without bunkers and hazards would be tame and monotonous. So would life.
Example 1 of 10
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