monosyllabic
5
7.4
- adjective
- /ˌmɒnəˈsɪləbɪk/
:
monosilábico
- During the meeting, he spoke in a monosyllabic manner, giving only brief and unenthusiastic answers.
- monosyllabic word
- monosyllabic word repetition
- monosyllabic plurals
Grammatically, he says that the primary unit is not the verb, but the monosyllabic adjective.
- Grammatically, he says that the primary unit is not the verb, but the monosyllabic adjective.
- And therefore it's and it's it's monosyllabic, right?
Examples
-
Unfortunately, the students gave monosyllabic answers, thus defeating the purpose of the questions.
Academic text (1996) -
Let me make this as monosyllabic as possible.
-
Even somebody as monosyllabic as you.
-
My monosyllabic son.
-
Johanna and Mrs. Holmstrom communicated mostly through polite smiles and monosyllabic answers to questions.
Fiction book (1992) -
When asked about his plans for the weekend, he responded with monosyllabic replies, making it clear he didn't want to engage.
-
Her monosyllabic answers made it difficult for anyone to spark a conversation with her.
Antonyms
Compounds
How Brief
Surface Forms
Morphology
monosyllabic = monosyllable (semi-transparent) = mono + syllable + ic
The adjective is formed directly from monosyllable with the common suffix -ic, and the sense 'one-syllable' is straightforward.
Etymology
Monosyllabic comes from Greek parts mono- meaning 'one' and syllable meaning 'a unit of sound in a word'. So a monosyllabic word has only one sound unit, like 'cat', and a monosyllabic speaker gives very short, often unfriendly, answers.