monotone

[ mon-uh-tohn ]

noun

1. a vocal utterance or series of speech sounds in one unvaried tone.
2. a single tone without harmony or variation in pitch.
3. recitation or singing of words in such a tone.
4. a person who is unable to discriminate between or to reproduce differences in musical pitch, especially in singing.
5. sameness of tone or color, sometimes to a boring degree.

adjective

1. monotonous.
2. consisting of or characterized by a uniform tone of one color: Compare monochromatic ( defs 1, 2 ).

   a monotone drape.

3. Mathematics. monotonic ( def 2 ).

monotone

/ ˈmɒnəˌtəʊn /

noun

1. a single unvaried pitch level in speech, sound, etc
2. utterance, etc, without change of pitch
3. lack of variety in style, expression. etc

adjective

1. unvarying or monotonous
2. Alsomonotonicˌmɒnəˈtɒnɪk maths (of a sequence or function) consistently increasing or decreasing in value

Word History and Origins

Origin of monotone¹

1635–45; < French monotone < Late Greek monótonos monotonous

Example Sentences

“That’s a hard question to answer,” Stewart says in her signature monotone, the voice she uses when she’s not selling you something.

From Salon

“Emilia Pérez,” which recently took special awards at the Cannes Film Festival, introduces the concept of “halves” set against a monotone backdrop.

From Los Angeles Times

In the band’s formative years, NOFX’s defining quality was how bad the group was — bad musicians and bad singers, with Fat Mike’s distinctive, whiny-sounding lead vocals and Melvin’s guttural, monotone screams.

From New York Times

I was doing comedy in Boston for a year and there was a newspaper called the Phoenix, an independent paper, and someone wrote a review, they saw me, and they said, " . . . a monotone, deadpan."

From Salon

She speaks with a South Central-inflected monotone in her voice, and is always down to lean into the darker undertones of an outfit, upping the drama with black leather or structural details.

From Los Angeles Times