monolith

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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.

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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 of monolith from the Web

Totality's eerie light bathes the ring of massive monoliths while robed figures chant and burn their sacrificial offerings.

— tyler nordgren, Discover Magazine, "Eclipse 2017: Darkness Is Coming," 7 Aug. 2017
The opponent is not a person with equally passionate feelings, but an administrative monolith that casts its long shadow over a tiny child and neutralizes the natural rights of his desperate parents.

— christine m. flowers, Philly.com, "The tragedy of Charlie Gard," 25 July 2017
These Tuesday, July 18 webcam photos provided by the Yosemite Conservancy show the monolith known as Half Dome as smoke from the Detwiler Fire swirls into Yosemite Valley.

— amy westervelt, Washington Post, "California wildfires near Yosemite as FEMA funds are authorized for fight," 19 July 2017
The home-sharing monolith and hotel industry are being put to the test in this editors' debate.

— cnt editors, CNT, "Are Airbnbs Better Than Hotels?," 13 July 2017
Without wading too far into spoiler territory, Mija slowly has to integrate herself with this capitalist monolith of a company in order to even get a shot at saving Okja.

— chris gayomali, GQ, "That'll do, super pig. That'll do.," 30 June 2017
For 20-odd hours you’d been fed a generic tale of revenge, and then suddenly Monolith decided to upend Tolkien’s whole universe and create a (paradoxical) second One Ring.

— hayden dingman, PCWorld, "Hands-on: Middle Earth: Shadow of War gets more creative with Tolkien's universe," 21 June 2017
This was the NFL before the league became a massive monolith, before professional football had become the biggest sports business in America.

— ben baskin, The MMQB, "Brawls, Booze and True Believers: The Saints’ Wild First Season," 20 June 2017
Still, the poll results show that rural America is far from a monolith.

— Alaska Dispatch News, "What’s widening the political gap between rural and urban America? Culture, a new poll shows.," 18 June 2017

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.

Origin and Etymology of monolith

French monolithe, from monolithe consisting of a single stone, from Latin monolithus, from Greek monolithos, from mon- + lithos stone

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1836

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Other Architecture Terms

buttress, casita, cornice, fanlight, garret, lintel, parapet, pilaster, plinth

MONOLITH Defined for English Language Learners

monolith

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noun

Definition of monolith for English Language Learners

: 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