tony
adjective
high-toned; stylish.
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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:
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 driver of the slick SUV bearing Qatari plates shifted into park, stepped out and headed into the tony department store.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
She’s tried them in McDonald’s and Michelin-starred haunts, in tony European hamlets and Midwestern hockey towns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
With his elevated speech, tony air and throwback attire, he’s like someone from another era; you could see him as one of Jay Gatsby’s pals or a bon vivant who drops by on “Downton Abbey.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Nothing was brokn broken except for tony isnt happy and silly all the time like he used to be.
From "Stella by Starlight" by Sharon M. Draper
Turn the whole internet off and on again: If you’ve heard rumblings about the cybersecurity vulnerability threatening the web but don’t know what’s going on, senior tech editor Tony Ho Tran is here to explain.
From Slate ● Nov. 5, 2026
Premiering off-Broadway in February 2024 and set to run six weeks, the show was given multiple extensions before transferring to Broadway, where it won Tony Awards for Escola’s performance and Pinkleton’s directing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
The first Christmas stamp collection came out in December 1966 after a children's art competition was announced by the then-postmaster Tony Benn.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
There are many metrics by which to measure the success of “Oh, Mary!,” the Tony Award-winning play that has taken the stage by storm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
By dinnertime Jonah had convinced himself that Tony McGilicuddy and Jacob Hanes and Dustin Cravers were a bunch of idiots, and he didn’t really care what they thought or did.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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
The broadcast airs air live beginning at 5 p.m. on CBS and Paramount+, but don’t sleep on the annual pre-show, “The Tony Awards: Act One,” where the first round of Tonys will be presented.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
At the same time, the Tonys aren’t inclined to be that kind of show.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
The network right now doesn’t seem to be in what you’d call a Tonys state of mind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 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
Even after a post-fire decline, the average Altadena home value is currently about $1.15 million, according to Zillow, roughly a third the value of average homes in the mostly tonier Palisades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025
But a tonier environment did not equal greater comfort.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 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
As Brentwood got tonier, movie stars joined the ranks of the residents who regularly picked up groceries, had their shoes shined and mailed letters in the barn-shaped one-stop shopping complex.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2022
The beach he was buried near, now called Pleasant Bay, is nestled in an idyllic corner of Chatham, one of the tonier areas of Cape Cod.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 25, 2021
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
An' when he grows up an' marries, if his wife is a chef-cook straight out of the toniest kitchen in town, at fifty dollars a month, he'll tell her she ain't a patch on me.
From Martha By-the-Day by Julie Mathilde Lippmann
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