Meaning & use

monoculture

noun·Advanced

The practice of growing a single crop or raising a single species over a large area of land.

See it in a sentence

Large-scale monoculture of corn can deplete soil nutrients faster than crop rotation does.

Farmers switched from monoculture to mixed planting to reduce their reliance on pesticides.

A note on using this word

Monoculture is also used figuratively for a lack of diversity in ideas, culture, or business practices.

Words with a similar meaning

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Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Another way to use it

2. noun

A situation lacking diversity, in which one culture, idea, or approach dominates.

Critics warned that the industry was becoming a monoculture of nearly identical apps.

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