MEANING
1. Limited to one aspect or lacking the depth and complexity expected of something.
2. Having extension along only one direction, as an ideal line does.
Use it for
criticizing an oversimplified account; describing a character with little psychological depth; showing that a single factor cannot capture a complex relationship; distinguishing a narrow portrayal from a deliberately limited modelDistinguishes an ideal single-dimensional model from a criticism that an account or character lacks depth. Writing functions: Evaluation / Limitation, Comparison / Contrast, Research / Methodology.
Words that belong together
- a one-dimensional character
- a one-dimensional account
- a one-dimensional view
On the page
The novel refuses a one-dimensional portrayal of the official as merely cruel.
Treating participation as attendance alone yields a one-dimensional account of civic life.
The diagram replaces the corridor with a one-dimensional line for the purposes of the model.
One-dimensional motion can be described using a single spatial coordinate.
Word forms
- Base
- one-dimensional
Usage notes
Adjective, normally hyphenated. Literal use is not gradable; figurative comparison more one-dimensional is natural. Not one-dimensionaller. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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