as in expression
a lexical item that has only one syllable
He answered all their questions with monosyllables like "yes" and "no."
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of monosyllable
And so, while the two talked at and around Andy Warhol and to each other, Warhol sat with his tiny dachshund, Archie Bunker, in his lap and snapped the reporters’ pictures with his new Polaroid camera, answering direct questions with shrugs or vague monosyllables.
—
Stephen Birmingham, Town & Country, 10 Aug. 2023
Hearing this jab of monosyllables is like being poked in the eye.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2023
His surprise was expressed in a monosyllable.
—Roger Robinson, Outside Online, 21 Dec. 2021
But where the two Stegosaurus brothers speak in Jurassic monosyllables, Stegothesaurus has the gift of a bountiful vocabulary.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 22 June 2018
The result is an idiom of great spareness and simplicity:
The words are short, mostly monosyllables.
—Gregory Hays, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2017
Original writer Derek Kolstad and director Chad Stahelski have returned for the sequel, alongside the taciturn Reeves, who brews up more of his Wickian magic while speaking infrequently and mostly in monosyllables.
—Katie Walsh, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2017
Still on the ground, Huete answers with monosyllables before using a cell phone to call his sister, who arrived at the scene soon after …
—James Hohmann, Washington Post, 26 May 2017
The title of Frantz is something else again, neither a piece of hand-holding nor an act of mild subversion, but a monosyllable with a gift for multitasking—and an index of the impacted richness that the film displays for roughly an hour.
—Leo Robson, Newsweek, 4 May 2017
Stephen Birmingham, Town & Country, 10 Aug. 2023
Hearing this jab of monosyllables is like being poked in the eye.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2023
His surprise was expressed in a monosyllable.
—Roger Robinson, Outside Online, 21 Dec. 2021
But where the two Stegosaurus brothers speak in Jurassic monosyllables, Stegothesaurus has the gift of a bountiful vocabulary.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 22 June 2018
The result is an idiom of great spareness and simplicity:
The words are short, mostly monosyllables.
—Gregory Hays, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2017
Original writer Derek Kolstad and director Chad Stahelski have returned for the sequel, alongside the taciturn Reeves, who brews up more of his Wickian magic while speaking infrequently and mostly in monosyllables.
—Katie Walsh, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2017
Still on the ground, Huete answers with monosyllables before using a cell phone to call his sister, who arrived at the scene soon after …
—James Hohmann, Washington Post, 26 May 2017
The title of Frantz is something else again, neither a piece of hand-holding nor an act of mild subversion, but a monosyllable with a gift for multitasking—and an index of the impacted richness that the film displays for roughly an hour.
—Leo Robson, Newsweek, 4 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for monosyllable
Noun
-
Deepfake films, for example, frequently feature odd blinking patterns, erratic lighting and inconsistent facial expressions.—
Rohan Pinto,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
-
For decades, the rise of action movies as Hollywood’s dominant genre was perceived (not entirely incorrectly) as something that ran counter to the idea of cinema as a means of human expression.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer and Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom, who are both second-generation immigrants, used that same phrase in their Tuesday resignation letters to Adams.—
Chris Sommerfeldt,
New York Daily News,
18 Feb. 2025
-
More common in British English, the phrase is often used in writing to close friends, colleagues or longtime acquaintances.—
Erin Hill,
People.com,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Many other huge companies have never used either word over that span.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
22 Feb. 2025
-
Commercial pilot and licensed psychotherapist shares words of encouragement after recent plane crashes Michaela Renee Johnson says fear is a natural response to seeing the recent aviation disasters — and shares her thoughts on how people can ultimately tackle their fear.—
Fox News,
Fox News,
22 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Important, too, was the morpheme a-, which referred to the mouth and, more broadly, to origins.—
Anvita Abbi,
Scientific American,
16 May 2023
-
Those words are made up of morphemes, small elements that change their meaning depending on how they are combined.—
Ian Austen,
BostonGlobe.com,
22 Apr. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Monosyllable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monosyllable. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share