stony

or ston·ey

[ stoh-nee ]

/ ˈstoʊ ni /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stony ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, ston·i·er, ston·i·est.

full of or abounding in stones or rock: a stony beach.

pertaining to or characteristic of stone.

resembling or suggesting stone, especially in its hardness.

unfeeling; merciless; obdurate: a stony heart.

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

petrifying; stupefying: stony fear.

having a stone or stones, as fruit.

Slang. stone-broke.

Nearby words

stoney creek, stonington, stonk, stonker, stonkered, stony, stony brook, stony coral, stony meteorite, stony pit, stony point

Origin of stony

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

SYNONYMS FOR stony

1 rocky, pebbly.

4 adamant, hard, flinty, pitiless, inflexible, unbending.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stony ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

ston·i·ly, adverbston·i·ness, nounun·ston·i·ly, adverbun·ston·i·ness, noun

un·ston·y, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stony

Rey, after sitting for long hours in stony silence, eventually gave the police her last name.
The Mad Shooter of Paris Is a ‘Natural Born Killer’|Christopher Dickey|November 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Sara Sonnack, a Stony Brook journalism major who will be a senior next year, says she hopes she can make the trip.
NYC Auction Held to Raise Funds for Stony Brook’s New Marie Colvin Center|Caitlin Dickson|June 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Havel was a hero who shrugged off the title, understandably uncomfortable with the assumptions of stony perfection.
John Avlon: Vaclav Havel's Heroic Politics of Truth and Responsibility|John Avlon|December 19, 2011|DAILY BEAST
She recalled the time they had walked together its stony beaches–and when Lee had lost his keys among the rocks.
Inside Alexander McQueen's Memorial|Isabel Wilkinson|September 20, 2010|DAILY BEAST

The stony silence of IRS is compelling thousands of us to hire tax counsel and to proceed at our own risk and expense.
How the Government Screwed Madoff Victims Again|Burt Ross|March 8, 2009|DAILY BEAST
“It shows that my good counsel has not all fallen on stony soil,” Aline answered laughingly.
Lorimer of the Northwest|Harold Bindloss
With the birth of Ferdinand a new feeling awoke in Adler's stony heart—a feeling of unbounded and eternal love.
More Tales by Polish Authors|Various
The whole country is stony and barren, and millet is the only kind of grain that it produces.
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. I|Robert Kerr
They had reached a high, stony neck, or saddle, between two great crags.
Harley Greenoak's Charge|Bertram Mitford
And ‘when he was yet a great way off his father saw him,’ along the stony road beneath the vine-clad hills.
Wit and Humor of the Bible|Marion D. Shutter

British Dictionary definitions for stony

stony

stoney

/ (ˈstəʊnɪ) /

adjective stonier or stoniest

of or resembling stone

abounding in stone or stones

unfeeling, heartless, or obdurate

short for stony-broke

Derived Formsstonily, adverbstoniness, 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

stony

or ston·ey

adjective, ston·i·er, ston·i·est.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of stony

Examples from the Web for stony

British Dictionary definitions for stony

stony

stoney

adjective stonier or stoniest