monotony
/mə'nɔtnəsnis/ Cách viết khác : (monotony) /mə'nɔtni/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- The quality of being monotonous; wearisome uniformity or lack of variety: A state or situation characterized by tedious sameness and repetition, often leading to boredom.
- Constancy of tone, pitch, or inflection: A lack of variation in sound, especially in speech or music.
Usage and Examples
- Noun:
- The monotony of the long drive made him feel sleepy. (The tedious sameness of the journey caused drowsiness.)
- She tried to break the monotony of her daily routine by taking a different route to work. (She attempted to interrupt the wearisome uniformity of her habitual schedule.)
- The speaker's voice had a dull monotony that failed to hold the audience's attention. (The unvarying pitch and tone of the speaker's voice was ineffective.)
Advanced Usage
- "The sheer monotony of...": Used to emphasize the extreme and oppressive nature of the sameness.
- The sheer monotony of data entry was mentally draining.
- "To relieve/break the monotony": A common phrase meaning to provide a welcome change from a boring, repetitive situation.
- A short walk in the park helped to relieve the monotony of studying.
Variants and Related Words
- Monotonous (adj): Dull, tedious, and repetitious; lacking in variety and interest.
- He found the job monotonous.
- Monotonously (adv): In a monotonous manner.
- The rain fell monotonously for days.
Synonyms
- Sameness: The quality of being the same; a lack of variety.
- Tedium: The state of being tedious; boredom.
- Humdrum: Lacking excitement or variety; dull; monotonous.
- Repetitiveness: The fact of being repetitive, especially tediously so.
Antonyms
- Variety: The quality or state of being different or diverse.
- Diversity: A range of different things; variety.
- Excitement: A feeling of great enthusiasm and eagerness.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- "A mind-numbing monotony": An extreme level of monotony that seems to dull one's mental faculties.
- The assembly line work was a mind-numbing monotony.
- "The daily grind": (While not a direct synonym, this idiom often describes a monotonous routine of work.)
- He needed a vacation to escape the daily grind.
Noun
- constancy of tone or pitch or inflection
- the quality of wearisome constancy, routine, and lack of variety
- he had never grown accustomed to the monotony of his work
- he was sick of the humdrum of his fellow prisoners
- he hated the sameness of the food the college served