tony
adjective
high-toned; stylish.
tony
1 American
[toh-nee]
/ ˈtoʊ ni /
adjective
Informal.
tonier,
toniest
Tony
2
American
[toh-nee]
/ ˈtoʊ ni /
noun
-
Tonys
plural
Tony
3
American
[toh-nee]
/ ˈtoʊ ni /
Tony
1
British
/ ˈtəʊnɪ /
noun
tony
2
British
/ ˈtəʊnɪ /
adjective
Usage
What is a Tony? A Tony is an annual award given by the American Theatre Wing (ATW) for excellence in theater production. The Tony award is a black statuette featuring a suspended medallion with the image of the comedy and tragedy mask and the winner’s name, category, and winning year engraved on it. The awards are given out at the Tony Awards ceremony, also known as the Tonys. The Tonys are a televised ceremonial event that features celebrity hosts, musical performances, and Broadway announcements. Typically, the event is seen as one of the most important nights in the theater industry because it gathers many of its most talented performers, directors, and production crews.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tony1
An Americanism dating back to 1875–80; tone + -y 1
Origin of Tony2
After the nickname of Antoinette Perry
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It has led to a tony version of an old western shoot-out, with opinion pieces in Aspen’s two local newspapers replacing revolver bullets and $8 matcha lattes at Sant Ambroeus swapped for 10-cent beers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Hawks spent two decades working as an executive assistant at the Sacred Hearts School, a private Catholic school in the tony Silicon Valley town of Atherton, before her retirement in 2021.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The tony ski destination’s market had seemed unstoppable—until the snow disappeared.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
One SpaceX buyer has been eyeing a $32-million pocket listing of his in tony Brentwood for months while waiting for the IPO, according to real estate broker Cory Weiss of Douglas Elliman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
“Curiosity. Or perhaps envy. We’re clearly dressed for an important party. We do look rather tony, don’t we, Marion?”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Tony Pasquariello acknowledges the trading environment is “certainly not uncomplicated” but still reckons the underlying trend is higher and the S&P 500 benchmark will end 2026 higher than it is today.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Pedro Pascal learned to play the cello for his starring role in upcoming film "Behemoth!" from Oscar-winning writer-director Tony Gilroy.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
No one in Anaheim thinks any less of Mike Trout, and no one in San Diego thinks any less of Tony Gwynn, because neither Hall of Famer won a World Series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
A spokesman for Goldman, Tony Fratto, said the board regularly discusses succession, but that there is no definitive timeline for it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
It was Mr. Lawrence’s new idea to keep Tony in at recess so they could play some math games together.
From "I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919" by Lauren Tarshis
The production reunites the original Broadway cast — André De Shields, Patrick Page, Reeve Carney, Eva Noblezada and Amber Gray — six years after the show debuted and swept the Tonys in 2019.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
When “My Fair Lady” with Lauren Ambrose was at Lincoln Center in 2018, the Tonys prompted me to attend what turned out to be one of the great theater experiences of my life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
At the same time, the Tonys aren’t inclined to be that kind of show.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
He shared that he actually has three Tonys, not two.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
We can't go on living here, and the Tonys will be home just as Tim's leave's up, and they're sure to leave their Bits behind.
From A Crooked Mile by Oliver [pseud.] Onions
In 2019, Montoya realized he could earn more through Uber: up to $1,800 a week driving in Los Angeles’s tonier neighborhoods.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 21, 2026
Rodgers’s appearance at the Tonys seemed, to me, like a new resident acclimating to a new residence, getting cozy with its — forgive me — tonier perks.
From New York Times ● Jul. 24, 2023
Those that did fill up were all in tonier neighborhoods such as Tarzana, Beverlywood and Fairfax.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2023
Because of the lower property values, even the tonier areas of St. Bernard got less of their damages covered.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2022
Entranced, Weller swan-dove headlong into the heart of Ferry’s unwritten sophisti-pop syllabus with airs that were tonier, goofier and made for extraordinarily easier listening than anything the Jam would’ve deigned to do.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 20, 2020
The borough of Westminster, home to some of London’s toniest neighborhoods, said in a 2023 report that it sought to collect payment on 13,423 tickets issued to United Arab Emirates vehicles between 2018 and 2022.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
The State Farm move affects some of the county’s toniest neighborhoods — adding another layer of expense and financial risk for homeowners in areas that were already costly and imperiled by wildfires.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
MIAMI—For nearly 2 years, bustling teams of archaeologists—totaling more than 120 researchers on some days—have excavated a sprawling waterfront lot here in one of this seaside city’s toniest neighborhoods.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 10, 2023
He has described how his parents saved to send him to Winchester College, one of Britain’s toniest and most expensive boarding schools.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 24, 2022
Dressed by his mom, the fashion manager for a national clothing chain, Missouri college techie-frat Craig Neidorf out-dappers everyone at this gig but the toniest East Coast lawyers.
From The Hacker Crackdown, law and disorder on the electronic frontier by Bruce Sterling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
