Single- and multisolute competitive sorptions were carried out in a batch reactor to investigate the uptake of phenol, 4-methylphenol (MeP), 2,4-dimethylphenol (DMeP), and 4-ethylphenol (EtP) dissolved in water at 25 degrees C onto organically modified montmorillonite. Hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA) cation was exchanged for metal cations on the montmorillonite to the extent of the cation-exchange capacity (CEC) of the montmorillonite to prepare HDTMA-montmorillonite, changing its surface property from hydrophilic to organophilic. It was observed from the experimental results that the adsorption affinity on HDTMA-montmorillonite was in the order 4-EtP approximate to 2,4-DMeP < 4-MeP < phenol. The Langmuir, dual-mode sorption (DS), and Redlich-Peterson (RP) models were used to analyze the single-solute sorption equilibria. The competitive Langmuir model (CLM), competitive dual-mode sorption model (CDSM), and ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST), coupled with the single-solute models (i.e., Langmuir, DS, and RP models), were used to predict the multisolute competitive sorption equilibria. All the models considered in this work yielded favorable representations of both single- and multisolute sorption behaviors. DSM, CDSM, and IAST coupled with the DSM were found to be other satisfactory models to describe the single- and multisolute sorption of the phenolic compounds onto HDTMA-montmorillonite.