Meaning

A male member of a monastic order who has devoted his life for religious service..

Definitions by Sense

1. A male member of a monastic order who has devoted his life for religious service.
2. In earlier usage, an eremite or hermit devoted to solitude, as opposed to a cenobite, who lived communally.
3. (slang) Someone who leads an isolated life; a loner, a hermit.
4. (slang) An unmarried man who does not have sexual relationships.
5. (slang) A judge.
6. (printing, archaic) An inkblot.
7. A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also applied to other species, as Cebus xanthosternos.
8. The bullfinch, common bullfinch, European bullfinch, or Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula).

Example Sentences

This is believed to be the completeſt liſt of this voluminous, proſaick, and driveling monk, that can be formed, without acceſs, at leaſt, to every manuſcript library in the kingdom, which would be very difficult, if not imposſible, to obtain.

In clusters on the plain, like cowlless monks at matins, sat the vultures that had settled on the corpse of the hyena impaled by the female rhino […]

Tony's face expressed relief, and Nettie sat silent for a moment until the vicar said “It was a generous impulse, but it may have been a momentary one, while in the case of monk and crusader there must have been a sustaining purpose, and possibly a great abnegation, a leaving of lands and possessions.”

"Ah!" she cried, "thou art the prettiest little monk that ever monked it in this blessed, amorous town of Constance!"

Good people, if you're ever short of a job, don't take up monking for a living.

Many a scholar, making wings of candlewicks to flap away old darkness, monked his life to fasting long while feasting upon new light.

...drinking: monking on a mountain: plodding in self-inflicted darkness so that the entrance into light would be heightened and supercharged: sacrifice and gain: the meek shall inherit the earth.

Sometimes, in the joint, time gets long. It's best then to just sit and think. I call it "monking," because you can become so inspired, with revelations and understandings. After a monking spell, you may get angry in a strange way.

Word Forms

• monks
• moncke
• monking
• monked

Synonyms for monk

Related Words

When Should You Use Monk?

Use monk when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

Practice This Word

Frequently Asked Questions