monolith

noun

mono·lith | \ˈmä-nə-ˌlith

Definition of monolith

1 : a single great stone often in the form of an obelisk or column A granite monolith stands at the center of the park.

2 : a massive structure The 70-story monolith is one of Europe's tallest buildings.

3 : an organized whole that acts as a single unified powerful or influential force The movie company grew into a monolith of the entertainment industry.

Examples of monolith in a Sentence

The new office building is a massive steel and concrete monolith. The media monolith owns a number of networks.

Recent Examples on the Web

Models walked beside a graffitied monolith, evoking a cross between a snowboarding bowl and a skate park, clad in layer upon layer of jackets (that were in fact one piece) and 3D molded blazers of razor precision. — Steff Yotka, Vogue, "Balenciaga’s New Book Is Unlike Anything You’ve Seen Before," 5 Nov. 2018 Wellington Wells’ repressive oligarchy runs the town from a handful of brutalist monoliths, but the most common threat is random citizens who will spontaneously attack you for things like wearing the wrong clothes in the wrong district. — Adi Robertson, The Verge, "We Happy Few is a creepy, fascinating game that gets lost in its own ambition," 10 Aug. 2018 In the desert the apes ponder a curious tall, black monolith, not natural, not theirs, not earthly. — Charles Champlin, latimes.com, "'2001: A Space Odyssey' still blowing minds 50 years later," 17 May 2018 Then the monolith morphed into a single word: anesthesia. — Moises Velasquez-manoff, WIRED, "Ketamine Stirs Up Hope—and Controversy—as a Depression Drug," 8 May 2018 On a busy five-point intersection in Boyle Heights is a monolith honoring all Mexican Americans who fought in World War II. — Ruben Vives, latimes.com, "Eastside veterans' memorial square a place of pride yet source of division over its official name," 22 Apr. 2018 In all, Farabee said, 31 of the 120 climbers who have died in the park since 1905 have died on the famous granite monolith. — Peter Fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle, "Witness to death plunge of 2 climbers on El Capitan describes horrific final moments," 10 June 2018 In September 2017, a climber was killed on El Capitan and another injured when a rock crashed down on a popular climbing route along the East Buttress of the monolith. — Carlos Lozano, latimes.com, "Investigation continues into death of two climbers who fell from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park," 3 June 2018 In all, Farabee said, 31 of the 120 climbers who have died in the park since 1905 have died on the famous granite monolith. — Peter Fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle, "Witness to death plunge of 2 climbers on El Capitan describes horrific final moments," 10 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'monolith.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about monolith

Dictionary Entries near monolith

Statistics for monolith

Last Updated

13 Nov 2018

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for monolith

The first known use of monolith was in 1836

See more words from the same year

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for monolith

monolith

noun

English Language Learners Definition of monolith

: a very large stone that is usually tall and narrow; especially : a stone that was put in position by people as a monument or for religious reasons

: a very large building or other structure

: a very large and powerful organization that acts as a single unit

See the full definition for monolith in the English Language Learners Dictionary

Keep scrolling for more