stony

or ston·ey

[ stoh-nee ]
See synonyms for stony on Thesaurus.com
adjective,ston·i·er, ston·i·est.
  1. full of or abounding in stones or rock: a stony beach.

  2. pertaining to or characteristic of stone.

  1. resembling or suggesting stone, especially in its hardness.

  2. unfeeling; merciless; obdurate: a stony heart.

  3. motionless or rigid; without expression, as the eyes or a look: a hard, stony stare.

  4. petrifying; stupefying: stony fear.

  5. having a stone or stones, as fruit.

  6. Slang. stone-broke.

Origin of stony

1
before 1000; Middle English; Old English stānig.See stone, -y1

Other words for stony

Other words from stony

  • ston·i·ly, adverb
  • ston·i·ness, noun
  • un·ston·i·ly, adverb
  • un·ston·i·ness, noun
  • un·ston·y, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use stony in a sentence

  • For a man predisposed to stoniness of the heart, this surely was unwholesome liquor.

    The Man of Adamant | Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • But now I see the lady—as steep as the side of a house, and as stony—no, naught but herself can be her parallel in stoniness.

    Phantom Fortune, A Novel | M. E. Braddon
  • The boarder glared at her in a curious kind of way, like a broadside of stoniness, but Caroline did not seem to mind it at all.

    The Jamesons | Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
  • There was a very stoniness about her grief as if the blow had petrified her.

    'Tween Snow and Fire | Bertram Mitford
  • The lemons, candles, and tobacco had the same astonishing quality of stoniness, and nothing yielded to the touch but the flour.

    The Frozen Pirate | W. Clark Russell

British Dictionary definitions for stony

stony

stoney

/ (ˈstəʊnɪ) /


adjectivestonier or stoniest
  1. of or resembling stone

  2. abounding in stone or stones

  1. unfeeling, heartless, or obdurate

  2. short for stony-broke

Derived forms of stony

  • stonily, adverb
  • stoniness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012