stony

adjective

ˈstō-nē 

variants or less commonly stoney

stonier; stoniest

1

: abounding in or having the nature of stone : rocky

2

a

: insensitive to pity or human feeling : obdurate

b

: manifesting no movement or reaction : dumb, expressionless

c

: fearfully gripping : petrifying

3

archaic : consisting of or made of stones

4

British : stone broke

stonily

ˈstō-nə-lē 

adverb

stoniness

ˈstō-nē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• affectless
• callous
• case-hardened
• cold-blooded
• compassionless
• desensitized
• hard
• hard-boiled
• hard-hearted
• heartless
• indurate
• inhuman
• inhumane
• insensate
• insensitive
• ironhearted
• merciless
• obdurate
• pachydermatous
• pitiless
• remorseless
• ruthless
• slash-and-burn
• soulless
• stonyhearted
• take-no-prisoners
• thick-skinned
• uncharitable
• unfeeling
• unmerciful
• unsparing
• unsympathetic

Examples of stony in a Sentence

She gave him a stony stare.

the judge's stony demeanor didn't raise the defendant's hopes for a more lenient sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The woman boarded the 5,000-gallon tanker and guided its driver through a tight lane, past houses lined with thousands of jerrycans, many chained in place, and onto a stony plateau. —Sameer Yasir Saumya Khandelwal, New York Times, 3 June 2024

Just as the stony construction was shrouded in mystery, the purpose of Seahenge has never truly been proven. —Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 3 June 2024

One moving work is a wall-size, single-channel video projection of a recumbent Black torso, seen from behind, the head obscured beneath a stony pile of gray rubble. —Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2024

Buckskin Mountain straddles a picturesque section of river, a beautiful combination of stony mountains and sparkling water. —Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 16 May 2024

According to York Archaeology, the blocks were cut from slag—a stony byproduct of smelting ore in a blast furnace, which was an important component of English industry in the 1800s. —Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 May 2024

Related Video Watch the 2024 Met Gala Red Carpet The farm was accessed by a stony track, with cow parsley growing high on either side. —Plum Sykes, Vogue, 2 May 2024

There's an unexpected warmth in it, such childlike joy beneath his stony exterior. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 22 June 2023

The stony object was actually a piece of ancient battle gear, the Soprintendenza del Mare announced in a March 28 Facebook post. —Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing stony

• stony broke

Kids Definition

stony

adjective

variants also stoney

ˈstō-nē 

stonier; stoniest

1

a

: full of stones

stony soil

b

: hard as stone

a stony seed

2

: pitiless, unfeeling

a stony stare

stonily

ˈstōn-ᵊl-ē 

adverb