monotone
/ˈmɒn.ə.təʊn/
"monotone" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“monotone” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #38,504 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #38,504
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Having a single unvaried pitch.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | monotone |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈmɒn.ə.təʊn/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #38,504 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “monotone” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for monotone is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɒn.ə.təʊn/. Corpus data places it at rank #38,504 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for monotone, with forms such as "mmonotone", "mnootone", and "monnotone". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "monotony", "moonstone", "Moncton", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the post-Classical Latin monotonus (“unvarying in tone”) or its etymon the Ancient Greek μονότονος (monótonos, “steady”, “unwavering”); compare cognate adjectives, namely the French monotone, the German monoton, the Italian monotono, and the Spanish mo… The correct English form is monotone, spelled M-O-N-O-T-O-N-E.
Definition
- 1Having a single unvaried pitch.
- 2Of a function: that is always nonincreasing or nondecreasing on an interval.
- 3Synonym of monochrome.
Etymology
From the post-Classical Latin monotonus (“unvarying in tone”) or its etymon the Ancient Greek μονότονος (monótonos, “steady”, “unwavering”); compare cognate adjectives, namely the French monotone, the German monoton, the Italian monotono, and the Spanish monótono, as well as the slightly earlier English noun monotony and adjective monotonical.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmonotone,mnootone,monnotone,monootne,monotnoe,monotoen,monotonne,monottone,montoone,moontone,omnotone
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of monotone - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "monotone"?
What does "monotone" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "monotone"?
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Using “monotone”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-N-O-T-O-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɒn.ə.təʊn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “monotony” - see the side-by-side comparison. monotone vs monotony
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.