variants
also stoney
as in ruthless
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stony
High Street began to slope upward, and the terrain became stonier around the sides of the road as Revere and his horse, Brown Beauty, ascended Rock Hill.
—
Kostya Kennedy, Time, 16 Feb. 2026
The area is populated with stony terraces and narrow streets where bistros serve good Italian food (this being so close to the Italian border) and markets to shop for artisanal items.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Feb. 2026
Across this stony landscape, light sometimes falls.
—Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2026
Forgotten animal pens, decaying cages and stony backdrops now sit in various states of abandonment.
—Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stony
Kostya Kennedy, Time, 16 Feb. 2026
The area is populated with stony terraces and narrow streets where bistros serve good Italian food (this being so close to the Italian border) and markets to shop for artisanal items.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Feb. 2026
Across this stony landscape, light sometimes falls.
—Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2026
Forgotten animal pens, decaying cages and stony backdrops now sit in various states of abandonment.
—Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stony
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stony
Adjective
-
Not many years ago, a ruthless man with an uneasy mind took power in his country and created a cult of personality.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
-
The sequel picks up as Tyler Rake, back from the brink of death, gets hired to rescue a ruthless gangster’s family from prison.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
But in the shadows, amid growing unease at the bloodthirsty actions of the realm’s merciless Mad King, dissenters from his inner circle anxiously advance a treasonous plot.—
Ryan Brennan
April 3,
Charlotte Observer,
3 Apr. 2026
-
The end was swift and merciless.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Say the hard truth gently, then listen fully.—
Tarot.com,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Apr. 2026
-
That’s so cold, in fact, that water there is like rock here on Earth, as hard as granite.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The lawyers also argue that Combs' sentence was too harsh, saying the trial judge wrongly based it in part on a conclusion that the crimes involved fraud and coercion and that Combs was a leader or organizer of criminal activity.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Apr. 2026
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Focused on a 2021 expedition in which Icelandic climber John Snorri Sigurjónsson and the Pakistani father-and-son team Ali and Sajid Sadpara attempt to become the first to summit K2 in winter, when conditions are at their harshest.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Iran, with its massive military capabilities, its oil wealth, its appetite for regional hegemony and its obdurate Islamism may have been the foremost obstacle to Israel’s integration into the region since 1979.—
Ron Kampeas,
Sun Sentinel,
2 Mar. 2026
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Despite the deluge of new data, the megaliths had given up none of their obdurate strangeness.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
24 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stony.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stony. Accessed 11 Apr. 2026.
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