monotonic

/ˌmɒnəˈtɒnɪk/

//ˌmɒnəˈtɒnɪk// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"monotonic" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“monotonic” is uncommon English (frequency #78,842 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#78,842
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or using the Greek system of diacritics which discards the breathings and employs a single accent to indicate stress. It replaced polytonic system in 1982.

Corpus desk

Index EN-monotonic · monotonic · English

monotonic · rank #78,842 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #78,842
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH monolayer

Nearest frequency peer: monolayer (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “monotonic”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “monotonic” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for monotonic
PropertyValue
Headwordmonotonic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˌmɒnəˈtɒnɪk/
Letters9
Frequency rank#78,842
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “monotonic” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).monotonicfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “monolayer” (#78,841), “Montenegrin” (#78,843), “monocular” (#78,840). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “monotonic” is #78,842. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

monotonic is uncommon English at frequency #78,842 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌmɒnəˈtɒnɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for monotonic, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek μονότονος (monótonos, “monotone”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”), equivalent to monotone + -ic. The correct English form is monotonic, spelled M-O-N-O-T-O-N-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of or using the Greek system of diacritics which discards the breathings and employs a single accent to indicate stress. It replaced polytonic system in 1982.
  2. 2
    Of a function: that either never decreases or never increases as its independent variable increases.
  3. 3
    Uttered in a monotone; monotonous.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how monotonic appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The Same Spade talk-alike, super-cynical heroine of the piece is named Emma Victor, and there's no end to her rapid-fire, monotonic, street-smart patter.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μονότονος (monótonos, “monotone”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”), equivalent to monotone + -ic.

Antonyms

antonym(s) of

This word in other languages

monótono(Español)monotone(Français)monoton(Deutsch)monótono(Português)

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 "monotonic"?
"monotonic" is spelled M-O-N-O-T-O-N-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌmɒnəˈtɒnɪk/.
What does "monotonic" mean?
As an adjective, "monotonic" means: Of or using the Greek system of diacritics which discards the breathings and employs a single accent to indicate stress. It replaced polytonic system in 1982.
How do you pronounce "monotonic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "monotonic" is /ˌmɒnəˈtɒnɪk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "monotonic"?
From Ancient Greek μονότονος (monótonos, “monotone”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”), equivalent to monotone + -ic. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "monotonic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

monolayer#78,841monocular#78,840Mirabella#78,826Mendelian#78,818

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list