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

Their average vine has 30 years of age and is planted in stony limestone soils. —Mike Desimone, Robb Report, 12 June 2025

The steep, stony ground made cultivation challenging. —Irene S. Levine, Forbes.com, 11 June 2025

First discovered in Florida in 2014, stony coral tissue loss disease attacks the soft tissue of more than 30 different species of coral. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 June 2025

Sifting through the stony soil of southern Sweden, archaeologists uncovered dozens of Viking-era structures and hundreds of artifacts. —Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 30 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

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

Phrases Containing stony

• stony broke

Rhymes for stony

• boney
• boni
• bony
• coney
• crony
• monie
• mony
• phoney
• phony
• stoney
• toney
• tony

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