monolith

noun

mono·​lith ˈmä-nə-ˌlith 

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 73-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

Use them where teams truly need independent scale or release cycles; otherwise, a modular monolith can deliver the same business speed with far less operational tax. — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026

The cloud was blank and inarticulate, a monolith with no secrets to reveal to any of its human witnesses. — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026

While that’s happening, our industry is being consolidated into these corporate monoliths that are run by people like Larry Ellison, and Larry Ellison is a radical conservative idealogue. — Marlow Stern, Variety, 11 Sep. 2026

The faith of Black Southerners (predominantly Baptist) and Latino Southerners (predominantly Catholic) is a reminder that the South is not a religious monolith. — John Hayes, The Conversation, 9 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1836, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for monolith

• coppersmith
• hammersmith
• silversmith
• beckwith
• blacksmith
• forthwith
• herewith
• locksmith
• outwith
• therewith
• wherewith
• frith

Kids Definition

monolith

noun

mono·​lith ˈmän-ᵊl-ˌith 

1

: a single great stone often in the form of a monument or column

2

: something large and powerful (as a political organization) that is thought to function as a unified whole

monolithic

ˌmän-ᵊl-ˈith-ik

adjective