1
: completely cold
stone-cold soup
The weather was stone-cold and often gray, with a 20-mile-an-hour headwind scouring the backstretch.—
Lorna Lentini
—often used figurativelyLorna Lentinia stone-cold killer
… his stone-cold calculation was that he could score more money more quickly with a bat and glove.—Scott Burton
Scott Burton
US, informal
: absolutely, utterly
stone-cold sober
Walter Anderson was a stone-cold handsome guy, a tall, powerfully built man with a thick head of wavy blond hair …—Edgar Allen Beam
Edgar Allen BeamExamples of stone-cold in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Fernando Ramirez, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Aug. 2025
Charles turned to a grinning Marina Mabrey with a stone-cold expression as their chests collided in celebration while more than 8,800 fans roared behind them.
—Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 1 Aug. 2025
Elsewhere, outlaw country singer Alex Williams released Space Brain, a collection of hair metal songs reinvented as stone-cold country music.
—Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 30 July 2025
Jon Bernthal has appeared in several Marvel television series as the stone-cold vigilante known as the Punisher, even headlining his own series.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 20 June 2025
In 1993, Nintendo put out a cartridge containing four stone-cold NES classics, beautified and upscaled for the beefier Super Nintendo.
—Luke Winkie, Vulture, 18 June 2025
Manager Craig Counsell has pushed all the right buttons, when he’s not getting ejected, and Hoyer’s stone-cold firing of David Ross is now a distant memory.
—Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 2025
Instead, a team that’s earned its reputation as stone-cold killers saw the other side Friday.
—Zak Keefer, New York Times, 14 June 2025
Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 22 Feb. 2023
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Adjective
Cascarino ran toward the bench with a stone-cold expression.
—Fernando Ramirez, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Aug. 2025
Charles turned to a grinning Marina Mabrey with a stone-cold expression as their chests collided in celebration while more than 8,800 fans roared behind them.
—Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 1 Aug. 2025
Elsewhere, outlaw country singer Alex Williams released Space Brain, a collection of hair metal songs reinvented as stone-cold country music.
—Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 30 July 2025
Jon Bernthal has appeared in several Marvel television series as the stone-cold vigilante known as the Punisher, even headlining his own series.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 20 June 2025
In 1993, Nintendo put out a cartridge containing four stone-cold NES classics, beautified and upscaled for the beefier Super Nintendo.
—Luke Winkie, Vulture, 18 June 2025
Manager Craig Counsell has pushed all the right buttons, when he’s not getting ejected, and Hoyer’s stone-cold firing of David Ross is now a distant memory.
—Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 2025
Instead, a team that’s earned its reputation as stone-cold killers saw the other side Friday.
—Zak Keefer, New York Times, 14 June 2025
Adverb
Now, 30 years after its initial release, the song is a stone-cold ’90s country classic and has been a mainstay in Jackson’s concerts for the past three decades.
—Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 22 Feb. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Stone-cold.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stone-cold. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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