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
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
Though the characters are stone-cold capitalists, the power couple are fan favorites — people have designed RAILROAD DADDY T-shirts in honor of George.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 17 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
That might be the hottest streak any rock label has ever had, cranking out stone-cold classics by Guided By Voices (Alien Lanes), Pavement (Wowee Zowee), Helium (The Dirt of Luck), Yo La Tengo (Electr-O-Pura), and Chavez (Gone Glimmering), all within a few weeks.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 4 June 2025
Animation Station Vampire Hunter D This stone-cold, ’80s goth anime classic is rarely available to stream legally, and the dual Hidive-Shudder collaborative release is a canny way to present it.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 2 June 2025
During the viral TikTok video, Stassi didn't budge at all (apart from dishing out a stone-cold side eye).
—Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 May 2025
Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 22 Feb. 2023
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Adjective
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
Though the characters are stone-cold capitalists, the power couple are fan favorites — people have designed RAILROAD DADDY T-shirts in honor of George.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 17 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
That might be the hottest streak any rock label has ever had, cranking out stone-cold classics by Guided By Voices (Alien Lanes), Pavement (Wowee Zowee), Helium (The Dirt of Luck), Yo La Tengo (Electr-O-Pura), and Chavez (Gone Glimmering), all within a few weeks.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 4 June 2025
Animation Station Vampire Hunter D This stone-cold, ’80s goth anime classic is rarely available to stream legally, and the dual Hidive-Shudder collaborative release is a canny way to present it.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 2 June 2025
During the viral TikTok video, Stassi didn't budge at all (apart from dishing out a stone-cold side eye).
—Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 May 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 5 Jul. 2025.
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