monolith

Word family

Related topics: Government, Architecture

mon·o·lith /ˈmɒnəlɪθ $ ˈmɑː-/ noun [countableC]

1 PGCONTROLa large powerful organization that cannot change quickly and does not consider the ideas or feelings of the people it affects 庞大而僵化的组织[政府等]

It is misleading to see the legal system as a monolith.

认为司法体制庞大而僵化是误导人的。

2. RFAAa large tall block of stone, especially one that was put in place in ancient times, possibly for religious reasons 〔尤指古时可能出于宗教目的建造的〕独石柱[碑]

Examples from the Corpus

monolith• Women, of course, are not a monolith, any more than men are.• Luisenlund Bronze Age monoliths and the rift valley of Ekkodal.• Funny old motels like the No-Tel are making way for the bland beige monoliths of world-wide corporate culture.• The Hotel Dunbar was a pink and chocolate-colored brick monolith on 42nd Street.• the collapse of the Communist monolith in Eastern Europe• My memos are spitballs in the face of the faceless monolith where I work.• The great monolith of my ambition.• On the other side of the gorge stood a line of eight irregularly shaped monoliths.• The main eye-catcher about the Plomosas is the sprawling monolith of Black Mesa.• Over to your right in the distance, half-hidden by a fold of land, is a broken circle of stone monoliths.

Origin monolith