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monochromia

monochromia

9.9
A condition in which a person can only see shades of light and dark
  • noun
  • /ˌmɒnəˈkroʊmiə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : monocromía
  • People with monochromia see the world only in varying shades of light and dark.

Examples

  • He suffers from monochromia and sees everything in shades of gray.

  • Due to his monochromia, artistic activities involving color were especially challenging for him.

  • The genetic basis for monochromia is different from that of partial color blindness.

  • Many artists explore the concept of monochromia in their work.

  • People with monochromia experience the world as a range of gray tones, unable to perceive any colors.

  • Due to monochromia, she can only distinguish objects based on their brightness rather than their hue.

  • His monochromia made it difficult for him to enjoy colorful artworks as he only saw shadows and highlights.

Synonyms

monochromatism
vsmonochromia
  • Specialized
9.9

A condition in which a person sees only shades of gray

is the same condition but a different term for it
monochromatic vision
vsmonochromia
  • Specialized
9.0

A condition in which a person sees the world only in shades of gray

is the same condition but an alternate expression
monochromacy
vsmonochromia
  • Specialized
9.9

A condition in which someone sees only shades of gray and not colors

means the same medical state but varies in naming
monochromasy
vsmonochromia
  • Specialized
9.9

People with complete color blindness see only shades of gray

is the same idea expressed with a different label
achromatopsia
vsmonochromia
  • Specialized
9.9

A condition in which a person cannot see colors and only sees shades of gray

is similar but more clinical and focuses on medical diagnosis
achromatism
vsmonochromia
  • Specialized
9.9

A lack of color in vision or objects

is more general, referring to absence of chromatic color rather than a disorder

Antonyms

1 2.5

To see and tell different colors with your eyes

trichromacy
  • Specialized
9.9

Seeing many colors normally because the eyes have three kinds of color cells

Surface Forms

monochromia singular
monochromias plural

Morphology

monochromia = monochrome (opaque) = mono + chrom + ia

The noun is formed with the classical condition suffix '-ia', but the specialized medical meaning is not straightforwardly recoverable from the familiar base word.

Etymology

Monochromia comes from Greek words mono- meaning 'one' and chroma meaning 'color', the same idea you see in monochrome. So monochromia means 'one color' and helps you remember that people with it see only shades of light and dark, not the usual colors.