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

monosyllabically

ˌmä-nə-sə-ˈla-bi-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

monosyllabicity

ˌmä-nə-ˌsi-lə-ˈbi-sə-tē 

noun

Synonyms of monosyllabic

• concise
• brief
• summary

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

Hey, there’s just something about those tough Buffalo wingers with monosyllabic names. — Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2026

Eva, a monosyllabic Finn about my age who dressed in head-to-toe black, seemed uninterested in most of what was happening around her, including me. — Hazlitt, 3 Dec. 2024

Rick likens his son’s interactions with the media to those of Bill Belichick, the legendary football coach and master of the monosyllabic press conference. — Tom Kludt, Vanity Fair, 17 Feb. 2026

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

Word History

Etymology

probably from French monosyllabique, from monosyllabe

First Known Use

1635, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for monosyllabic

• polysyllabic
• disyllabic
• syllabic