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.

We’re all familiar with workplace efficiency, where every task must beat the clock and “skill and creativity” are reduced to “repetitive, monotonous tasks, without the beautiful compensation of singing along.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

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

At first, ceramics was just an escape from the monotonous copywriting work Stringer dreaded.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2025

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

From BBC • Sep. 9, 2025

Major Major went back to Washington Irving when John Milton grew monotonous.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Vocabulary lists containing monotonous

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Of Mice and Men

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List 3

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