as in expression
a lexical item that has only one syllable
He answered all their questions with monosyllables like "yes" and "no."
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Recent Examples of monosyllable
And so, while the two talked at and around Andy Warhol and to each other, Warhol sat with his tiny dachshund, Archie Bunker, in his lap and snapped the reporters’ pictures with his new Polaroid camera, answering direct questions with shrugs or vague monosyllables.
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Stephen Birmingham, Town & Country, 10 Aug. 2023
Hearing this jab of monosyllables is like being poked in the eye.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2023
His surprise was expressed in a monosyllable.
—Roger Robinson, Outside Online, 21 Dec. 2021
But where the two Stegosaurus brothers speak in Jurassic monosyllables, Stegothesaurus has the gift of a bountiful vocabulary.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 22 June 2018
The result is an idiom of great spareness and simplicity:
The words are short, mostly monosyllables.
—Gregory Hays, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2017
Original writer Derek Kolstad and director Chad Stahelski have returned for the sequel, alongside the taciturn Reeves, who brews up more of his Wickian magic while speaking infrequently and mostly in monosyllables.
—Katie Walsh, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2017
Still on the ground, Huete answers with monosyllables before using a cell phone to call his sister, who arrived at the scene soon after …
—James Hohmann, Washington Post, 26 May 2017
The title of Frantz is something else again, neither a piece of hand-holding nor an act of mild subversion, but a monosyllable with a gift for multitasking—and an index of the impacted richness that the film displays for roughly an hour.
—Leo Robson, Newsweek, 4 May 2017
Stephen Birmingham, Town & Country, 10 Aug. 2023
Hearing this jab of monosyllables is like being poked in the eye.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2023
His surprise was expressed in a monosyllable.
—Roger Robinson, Outside Online, 21 Dec. 2021
But where the two Stegosaurus brothers speak in Jurassic monosyllables, Stegothesaurus has the gift of a bountiful vocabulary.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 22 June 2018
The result is an idiom of great spareness and simplicity:
The words are short, mostly monosyllables.
—Gregory Hays, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2017
Original writer Derek Kolstad and director Chad Stahelski have returned for the sequel, alongside the taciturn Reeves, who brews up more of his Wickian magic while speaking infrequently and mostly in monosyllables.
—Katie Walsh, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2017
Still on the ground, Huete answers with monosyllables before using a cell phone to call his sister, who arrived at the scene soon after …
—James Hohmann, Washington Post, 26 May 2017
The title of Frantz is something else again, neither a piece of hand-holding nor an act of mild subversion, but a monosyllable with a gift for multitasking—and an index of the impacted richness that the film displays for roughly an hour.
—Leo Robson, Newsweek, 4 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for monosyllable
Noun
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As with interiors, the 2025 plant and gardening color trends are all about bold expressions of color.Cori Sears, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 Dec. 2024
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In the clip, Gomez sits up from beneath a pile of blankets with a jaw-dropping expression.Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 9 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Point out any generic phrases, weak transitions, or sections that need more punch.Jodie Cook, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
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The toy responds with encouraging phrases and flashing lights when kids feed it plastic coins or press its numbered buttons.Cai Cramer, People.com, 12 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Corcoran delivered his final words before taking his last breath.Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY, 19 Dec. 2024
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As households witnessed their utility bills drop—sometimes by nearly 90% according to Miller—word spread that the people going door to door were here to help.Marina Lopes, TIME, 18 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Important, too, was the morpheme a-, which referred to the mouth and, more broadly, to origins.Anvita Abbi, Scientific American, 16 May 2023
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Those words are made up of morphemes, small elements that change their meaning depending on how they are combined.Ian Austen, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Apr. 2023
Thesaurus Entries Near monosyllable
Cite this Entry
“Monosyllable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monosyllable. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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