Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The American turn to monolingualism did not occur until after the Civil War, when new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe began to arrive in large numbers: Italians, Poles, Greeks and Ashkenazi Jews.

From Salon • Feb. 12, 2026

Dear Miss Manners: I live in a city in which a wide variety of languages are spoken, though I, to my shame and regret, seem genetically predisposed to monolingualism.

From Washington Post • Feb. 18, 2023

I mean, the famous linguistic research by Joshua Fishman showed a three-generation conversion to English monolingualism.

From Slate • Jul. 25, 2019

This is something that’s often assumed reflexively by those of us who live most of our lives in English, but historically speaking, monolingualism is something of an aberration.

From The Guardian • Jul. 27, 2018

It was one of those American innovations, like Nascar or monolingualism, that failed to sweep the globe.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 18, 2016