Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of steely
Explanation
Anything that's steely resembles the metal called steel in some way—it's either hard, strong, bright, or silvery. A sword, a shade of gray, and even a look can be steely. You might describe the steely glint of the polished silverware on the table, or the steely blue of your cat's eyes. If someone questions you with a steely coldness, they are hard and emotionless—as cold as steel. You could also describe this person as "flinty" or "stony," other unbending adjectives. When steely was first used in the 16th century, it also described things literally "made of steel."
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:
"Hathaway is a model of steely self-possession masking vulnerability; Pattinson bites into his character's villainy with gusto."
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Far from seeming like a steely leader in a rigorous era, he instead recalls all those gentle, soft, pouty-lipped dreamboats who pop up interchangeably in young-adult soaps on the streaming services.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Winocour’s filmmaking itself is as steely as a Parisian’s gaze after you order the last croissant à la pâtisserie.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
That is no longer the case since Ravi, an amiable but steely 58-year-old Harvard graduate, became secretary of the governing board.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
The sheriff turns around and gives us all a steely gaze.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
But I find it hard to conceive that the image her leadership so desperately courts—a renegade broadcast company, steelier, rawer, and ineffably realer than its competitors—will ever take hold.
From Slate ● Jan. 6, 2026
Only when the topic of the closure came up did the owner’s friendly manner shift into something steelier.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2023
Real Madrid are steelier than that flaky Barcelona side.
From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2023
His music looked back to the not-so-distant days of psychedelia and the Velvet Underground, but it was leaner, tauter, steelier.
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2023
Slowly, as they kept talking, his face got steelier and steelier.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
There’s something about this storied tournament that can make even the steeliest of players weak in the knees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
“Pure/Honey,” next to last, is another sub-bass monster: The first part, propelled by a nasty kick drum, is a surprising approximation of techno at its steeliest, or maybe its most “pure.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 29, 2022
Russians are famously great chess players, yet there are moments when even the steeliest grandmasters find their initial advances on the board blocked and must adjust strategy.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 15, 2022
The work can bring some of the steeliest to crumble.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 19, 2021
His job is war-work of the steeliest order, such as very few men would care to undertake.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, June 27, 1917 by Seaman, Owen, Sir
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.
