monosyllabic
adjective
mono·syl·lab·ic
ˌmä-nə-sə-ˈla-bik 
1
: consisting of one syllable or of monosyllables
2
: using or speaking only monosyllables
3
: conspicuously brief in answering or commenting : terse
Examples of monosyllabic in a Sentence
The movie star was monosyllabic with newspaper reporters.
the sullen teenager would give only a monosyllabic response to even the friendliest question
Recent Examples on the Web
Borges tells us that in Tlön’s Ursprache there are no nouns; instead, there are impersonal verbs, modified by monosyllabic prefixes with an adverbial value.
—
Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 2025
On the other hand, the 73-year-old Belichick’s gruff persona, with his monosyllabic utterances at news conferences, has become the stuff of legend.
—Bruce Feldman, New York Times, 7 July 2025
Verstappen was subsequently punished for using the F-word to describe Red Bull’s performances and reacted to his ban by delivering monosyllabic answers during FIA press conferences over the Singapore Grand Prix weekend.
—Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025
The Chinese language, unlike alphabetic languages, uses more brain regions due to its monosyllabic, tonal, and logographic nature, which makes understanding brain signals more complex.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 5 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for monosyllabic
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.
Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 2025
On the other hand, the 73-year-old Belichick’s gruff persona, with his monosyllabic utterances at news conferences, has become the stuff of legend.
—Bruce Feldman, New York Times, 7 July 2025
Verstappen was subsequently punished for using the F-word to describe Red Bull’s performances and reacted to his ban by delivering monosyllabic answers during FIA press conferences over the Singapore Grand Prix weekend.
—Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025
The Chinese language, unlike alphabetic languages, uses more brain regions due to its monosyllabic, tonal, and logographic nature, which makes understanding brain signals more complex.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 5 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for monosyllabic
Cite this Entry
“Monosyllabic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monosyllabic. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share