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
Hearing this jab of monosyllables is like being poked in the eye.
—
Anthony Lane,
The New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2023
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
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
Anthony Lane,
The New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2023
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for monosyllable
Noun
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Unlike traditional sports chants, Jama blends music, rhythm and movement into an expression of community that exists well beyond the soccer field.
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While much of the source material comes from elsewhere, the cumulative mood is extremely personal to an artist who has spent his life helping the greats find true expression.
Noun
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His Raising Cane’s work, titled Cane’s Anthem, continues the Pop-lite aesthetic, utilizing phrases and images that appear to be culled from the mass media.
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Anyway, this phrase survived my query letter, made it into my agent’s submission letter to editors, and ended up in my editor’s copy on the back of the book.
Noun
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When word spread that Swift attended Jack Antonoff and Margaret Qualley's 2023 wedding on the New Jersey shore, hundreds of fans and photographers descended on the quiet beach community.
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Review a bill, then send a polite message that clarifies terms, because simple words protect value and invite respectful responses.
Noun
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Important, too, was the morpheme a-, which referred to the mouth and, more broadly, to origins.
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Those words are made up of morphemes, small elements that change their meaning depending on how they are combined.
Cite this Entry
“Monosyllable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monosyllable. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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