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
In a vast stony tract of desert a three-hour drive south of Cairo, tucked between jagged black mountains and the glittering Gulf of Suez, a group of Chinese engineers is quietly rewiring Egypt’s energy strategy.
—
Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 14 Apr. 2026
Hikers can traverse the stony beds of Cliffy Creek and snap photos of the park's four iconic waterfalls.
—Joie Probst, Midwest Living, 10 Apr. 2026
In June, after Deschamps invited the squad to applaud the PSG players who had just won 5-0 against Inter in the Champions League final, Mbappe struggled to contain his amusement at the stony expression worn by Thuram, who had been on the losing side that night.
—Tom Williams, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2026
But his landscape paintings of the stony canyons and craggy cliffs that define this part of the country seem to be everywhere these days.
—Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 30 Mar. 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.
Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 14 Apr. 2026
Hikers can traverse the stony beds of Cliffy Creek and snap photos of the park's four iconic waterfalls.
—Joie Probst, Midwest Living, 10 Apr. 2026
In June, after Deschamps invited the squad to applaud the PSG players who had just won 5-0 against Inter in the Champions League final, Mbappe struggled to contain his amusement at the stony expression worn by Thuram, who had been on the losing side that night.
—Tom Williams, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2026
But his landscape paintings of the stony canyons and craggy cliffs that define this part of the country seem to be everywhere these days.
—Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 30 Mar. 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 25 Apr. 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
