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
plural -es
: the quality or state of being stony
a bigness and a dilapidated dignity and a stoniness which carry one back to the Middle Ages—
D. H. Lawrence
D. H. LawrenceExamples of stony in a Sentence
Adjective
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
Emily Cox, ARTnews.com, 22 May 2026
Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.
—Natasha Bazika, Martha Stewart, 9 May 2026
This was audacious in an area dotted with stony, colonial farmhouses and quaint villages of Federal and Italianate homes.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 30 Apr. 2026
These conditions often yield mezcals with a savory backbone and a dry, stony finish.
—Joseph V Micallef, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2026
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Adjective
Oscar Wilde, for example, reposes beneath a hulking deity whose iconoclastic castration, back in 1961, did little to restrain pilgrims seeking to smear red lips across his stony physique.
—Emily Cox, ARTnews.com, 22 May 2026
Instead of looking like a sleek urban loft, the room can quickly start to feel cold, stony, and impersonal.
—Natasha Bazika, Martha Stewart, 9 May 2026
This was audacious in an area dotted with stony, colonial farmhouses and quaint villages of Federal and Italianate homes.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 30 Apr. 2026
These conditions often yield mezcals with a savory backbone and a dry, stony finish.
—Joseph V Micallef, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 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 Jun. 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
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