How to Use one-note in a Sentence

one-note

adjective
Definition of one-notenext
  • Which isn’t to say that his style is one-note – it’s never been.
    — Julian Randall, Essence, 24 May 2024
  • The less said about Kraven's snarling, one-note performance, the better.
    — Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 17 Oct. 2023
  • Apte does what the script requires as the dogged cop on his trial, even as Andrews has a bit of a more one-note role.
    — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 28 Jan. 2025
  • Zoom in: The Balkan beer scene is one-note, by American craft beer standards.
    — Sam Allard, Axios, 17 Sep. 2024
  • Here, lush island hotels around the world that are anything but one-note.
    — Kathryn Romeyn, Architectural Digest, 6 Dec. 2024
  • In the hands of a less talented filmmaker, The Babadook could have been a one-note story.
    — Jennifer M. Wood, WIRED, 25 Oct. 2024
  • As such, the role could have easily been reduced to a bit part or a one-note villain.
    — TIME, 13 Oct. 2023
  • And although one of Patrick’s gifts to us is her honesty, at times the book felt repetitive and too one-note.
    — Steven Petrow, Washington Post, 14 May 2023
  • My life does not feel at all like a one-note experience.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 7 Feb. 2025
  • Slow, ballad-y verses that build to an epic one-note melody chorus.
    — Eli Miller, Vulture, 16 June 2023
  • The best of both worlds, caramel balayage instantly adds warmth and dimension to even the most plain and one-note hair colors.
    — Danielle Sinay, Glamour, 3 Dec. 2024
  • Wilson is a skilled actor who doesn’t play a one-note foil for Momoa’s antics.
    — Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times, 22 Dec. 2023
  • Fabian is mostly a one-note character, and that’s the note—peeved outrage.
    — Sarah Larson, The New Yorker, 8 Feb. 2024
  • Rather than a one-note visual, moody blue is a whole-body experience.
    — Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 4 Oct. 2024
  • Audiences could safely assume the movies’ one-note joke — a children’s toy that swears like a grown-up! — had run its course.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 11 Jan. 2024
  • The actress indeed does a lot with a role that could easily be one-note, stealing nearly every scene in the process.
    — Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Nov. 2023
  • Suffice it to say the period was not one-note, nor is its depiction onscreen.
    — Rachel Davies, Architectural Digest, 24 Dec. 2024
  • But also understand that my father was more than just a one-note politician.
    — Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 12 Feb. 2025
  • Lively’s charm can only carry Lily so far before the character starts to feel too one-note.
    — Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Aug. 2024
  • His keyboard player Kenny, king of the one-note solo, is holding down that B-flat organ key while waiting for the changes to come around again and catch up to his note.
    — Bart Bull, SPIN, 20 Feb. 2023
  • For all that, his Arthur remains a lowly outsider, with a downcast gaze, a peevish temper, and a deep well of melancholy that never feels one-note.
    — Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024
  • Almut cringes at the idea of being commemorated in such a one-note fashion.
    — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2024
  • In what at first feels like a one-note role, Maupas subtly finds the depths of hope beneath Severino’s judgmental surface.
    — Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Aug. 2023
  • But by and large, they’re mostly introduced as a series of one-note obstacles whose defeat brings Deku one step closer to Dark Might.
    — David Opie, IndieWire, 7 Oct. 2024
  • The system doesn’t typify one-note characters, just as real life shouldn’t.
    — WIRED, 26 July 2023
  • Russia is pretty much a one-note economy: Fossil fuel exports pay the bills.
    — David Cay Johnston, The New Republic, 30 Mar. 2023
  • A little of this goes a very long way, especially when the Bandits themselves are relatively one-note.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 23 July 2024
  • That isn’t to say that Lolly Adefope isn’t an enjoyable screen presence, however, even if Dag feels a little limited and one-note on the page.
    — Jack King, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2024
  • For all the wit and care of the performances, Malcolm and JB register as one-note ciphers because the adaptation cuts them down to little more than plot functionaries.
    — David Benedict, Variety, 5 Apr. 2023
  • Sometimes soups can taste a little one-note, but this one is filled with contrasting textures and flavors to make every bite interesting.
    — Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 10 Jan. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'one-note.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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