Definitions

monotonous

[muh-not-n-uhs] / məˈnɒt n əs /

ADJECTIVE

all the same, remaining the same

Synonyms

STRONGEST

boring dreary dull ho-hum humdrum plodding repetitious repetitive tedious tiresome

WEAK

banausic blah colorless droning dull as dishwater flat flat as pancake monotone nothing pedestrian prosaic puts one to sleep recurrent reiterated samely sing-song soporific toneless treadmill unchanged unchanging uniform uninflected uninteresting unrelieved unvaried unvarying wearisome wearying

Antonyms

STRONGEST

bright clear eventful exciting interesting light lively

WEAK

changing ever-changing variable versatile

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Set in a dour factory, “Metropolis” is “the grandfather of all ‘beat the worker down with monotonous, repetitive labor, totally unrecognized by management’ movies,” says Mankiewicz of TCM.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025

Mills, a sociologist, challenged this belief, describing how white-collar work could be just as monotonous, powerless and stressful as factory work.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 12, 2025

It can get a little bit monotonous and a little bit tedious.

From BBC • Sep. 9, 2025

That’s enough to cycle in three or four dinners over the course of a quarter — plenty to be useful, but not so much that it becomes monotonous.

From Salon • Sep. 9, 2025

She can hear the trains stop, then resume their monotonous drone.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Vocabulary lists containing monotonous

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Of Mice and Men

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List 3

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