unilingual
unilingual — adjective
- unilingualpositive
- more unilingualcomparative
- most unilingualsuperlative
1. able to speak, read, or write in only one language; describing a person, communi
able to speak, read, or write in only one language; describing a person, community, or document that makes use of a single language
Selim's grandfather remained unilingual even after living in the capital for twenty years.
remain + unilingual — describing a lifelong language limitation
The unilingual warning label on the medicine bottle put non-English-speaking patients at risk.
unilingual + noun (warning label / sign / document)
Meera felt unilingual compared to her classmates, who all spoke at least two languages.
At a unilingual Tokyo firm, Yuki's team lost ideas from multilingual remote workers.
Tamar, though unilingual in Hebrew, managed to communicate through hand gestures and simple English.
- monolingual
the dominant, more neutral term in everyday and most academic English
- single-language
used primarily as a compound modifier before nouns (e.g. single-language policy)
- multilingual
able to use several languages
- bilingual
able to use two languages
- polyglot
knowing or using many languages; more formal
用法筆記
Unilingual is far less common than monolingual in everyday English. It appears mainly in formal or academic writing on language policy, and is especially frequent in Canadian English where official bilingualism provides a natural contrast.