variants
or less commonly stoney
stonier; stoniest
2
a
: insensitive to pity or human feeling : obdurate
a stony heart
b
: manifesting no movement or reaction : expressionless
gave them a stony stare
c
: fearfully gripping : petrifying
3
archaic
: consisting of or made of stones
4
British
: stone broke
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
Except every movie tends to get five buckets, while the rest of their time curdles into Tim sharing too much about his personal life as Gregg stares on, his stony, Buster Keaton-like face saying nothing and everything.
—
Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 19 Mar. 2026
That same stony resistance stymied Henry’s next attempt at commercial success, a parasol with a snap-on cover that could be changed to match a woman’s outfit.
—Shoshi Parks, Popular Science, 19 Mar. 2026
With a 15 percent slope and soils consisting of shattered rock and very stony loam with a small percentage of clay, the soil is low in organic matter and drains extremely well.
—Mike Desimone, Robb Report, 22 Feb. 2026
The sculptor, David Adickes, was an Army veteran who'd wanted his stony visages to gleam.
—Danielle Paquette The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stony
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 19 Mar. 2026
That same stony resistance stymied Henry’s next attempt at commercial success, a parasol with a snap-on cover that could be changed to match a woman’s outfit.
—Shoshi Parks, Popular Science, 19 Mar. 2026
With a 15 percent slope and soils consisting of shattered rock and very stony loam with a small percentage of clay, the soil is low in organic matter and drains extremely well.
—Mike Desimone, Robb Report, 22 Feb. 2026
The sculptor, David Adickes, was an Army veteran who'd wanted his stony visages to gleam.
—Danielle Paquette The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stony
Cite this Entry
“Stony.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stony. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
stony
adjective
variants
also stoney
stonier; stoniest
1
a
: full of stones
stony soil
b
: hard as stone
a stony seed
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
