variants
also stoney
as in stern
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
the judge's stony demeanor didn't raise the defendant's hopes for a more lenient sentence
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stony
The reef is home to 45 species of stony corals, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and 6,000 species of marine line total.
—
Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 3 July 2025
The typically blustery course, located along the stony shore of Sandwich Bay, was calm during the first round, which began at 6:45am.
—Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 2 July 2025
Also worth a visit are the stony remains at the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
—Marcia Desanctis, Travel + Leisure, 30 June 2025
In some deep, black, stony, and liberating way, my life, in my own eyes, began during that first year in Paris, when it was borne in on me that this laughter is universal and never can be stilled.
—Hilton Als, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for stony
Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 3 July 2025
The typically blustery course, located along the stony shore of Sandwich Bay, was calm during the first round, which began at 6:45am.
—Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 2 July 2025
Also worth a visit are the stony remains at the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
—Marcia Desanctis, Travel + Leisure, 30 June 2025
In some deep, black, stony, and liberating way, my life, in my own eyes, began during that first year in Paris, when it was borne in on me that this laughter is universal and never can be stilled.
—Hilton Als, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for stony
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stony
Adjective
-
From stern to bow, the boat was a lesson in restrained elegance, with plenty of teak wood and muted, calming shades.—
Rachel Wallace,
Architectural Digest,
4 Sep. 2025
-
But after nabbing the part of the stern hotel manager Valentina in the second season of The White Lotus (2022), Impacciatore was launched into Hollywood fame.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
While Ne Zha’s home of Chentang Pass is being obliterated, we’re shown a grim, apocalyptic tableau of mass death that features a family with a young child frozen in ash.—
Derek Robertson,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
-
The grim irony of Sudan’s predicament is that Africa’s third-largest country boasts significant mineral reserves, including huge quantities of gold, as well as vast swathes of arable land.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Hunted by the ruthless crime boss that Don worked for and learned all the boss’s sinister secrets — Perlman plays him — Don has a reason to seek redemption.—
Mike Fleming Jr,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Witness Alex Hales’ ruthless removal.—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The once-beloved pastels will become harsh.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
6 Sep. 2025
-
The pilgrimage, listed on the official calendar of jubilee events, comes as gay Catholics look to Pope Leo XIV to continue down the bold path of his predecessor to welcome into the church a group that has in the past faced alienation and sometimes harsh treatment.—
Christopher Lamb,
CNN Money,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Most of these initiatives met obdurate resistance from more powerful sectors of the state, and by the end of Khatami’s second term, in 2005, the reform movement had lost much of its momentum.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
8 Aug. 2025
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Ipswich proved obdurate and then generous opponents — Newcastle’s 78 per cent possession was the highest by any team in a Premier League match this season — and their relegation was confirmed by this 3-0 defeat.—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The film’s only real villain is Al Pacino, doing a Colonel Sanders accent as Richard’s father M.L. Hall, whose pitiless rigidity stands in for capitalism as a whole.—
Katie Rife,
IndieWire,
2 Sep. 2025
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Each failure rekindled the gravitational pull of an existential, pitiless struggle.—
Hussein Agha,
New Yorker,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
In 1918, Bolshevik secret police forced Anastasia Romanov and her imperial family into a damp basement to face a merciless firing squad.—
Ashlee Conour,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Sep. 2025
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The lengthy, merciless caption is basically the rock equivalent of Miranda Priestly’s cerulean sweater takedown.—
Angie Martoccio,
Rolling Stone,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
His characters strive to achieve things—such as love, self-command, or financial success—but those efforts are made ironic in the face of a world that, while sometimes beautiful to look at, remains indurate to human happiness.—
Scott Bradfield,
The New Republic,
24 Jan. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Stony.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stony. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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