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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of stony
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
Except every movie tends to get five buckets, while the rest of their time curdles into Tim sharing too much about his personal life as Gregg stares on, his stony, Buster Keaton-like face saying nothing and everything.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 19 Mar. 2026
That same stony resistance stymied Henry’s next attempt at commercial success, a parasol with a snap-on cover that could be changed to match a woman’s outfit.
—Shoshi Parks, Popular Science, 19 Mar. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for stony
Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 30 Mar. 2026
Except every movie tends to get five buckets, while the rest of their time curdles into Tim sharing too much about his personal life as Gregg stares on, his stony, Buster Keaton-like face saying nothing and everything.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 19 Mar. 2026
That same stony resistance stymied Henry’s next attempt at commercial success, a parasol with a snap-on cover that could be changed to match a woman’s outfit.
—Shoshi Parks, Popular Science, 19 Mar. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for stony
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stony
Adjective
-
When a ruthless despot steals a billion-dollar fortune, the team is sent to steal it back on what would be for anyone else a suicide mission.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
-
Assayas offers anecdotes, a feuilleton of tyranny in which the foibles of the mighty and the ruthless reveal the sentimental side of cruelty, the amusement value of ugly deeds, and the polite side of monstrous ideas.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
Ron White, Joe DeRosa, and Tony’s number one favorite comic, Tony Hinchcliffe (played by Adam Ray), showed the crowd exactly what effortless and absolutely merciless veteran comedy looks like.—
Malina Saval,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2026
-
Development in the Dotte 🪠 Fish or human feces often wash up in KCK homes during those merciless spring rains.—
Sofi Zeman,
Kansas City Star,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
San Diego is still young, especially in the back, and is learning hard MLS lessons in real time.—
Eddie Brown,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 May 2026
-
It’s often been hard to be a local sports fan in Connecticut.—
P.R. Lockhart,
Hartford Courant,
9 May 2026
Adjective
-
The scheme has been so successful, law enforcement has created a joint FBI-National Security Division task force to disrupt the operations and have dealt a series of harsh prison terms to American accomplices who have willingly aided the North Koreans.—
Amanda Gerut,
Fortune,
14 May 2026
-
To fully embody her OnlyFans persona, an earthside alien named The Hungry Ghost, who offers mild nudity and harsh criticism of her willing subscribers’ genitalia.—
Alli Rosenbloom,
CNN Money,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
Possibly this was the case at élite law schools in the nineteen-nineties, where even the most obdurate deans could not afford to ignore their militant students indefinitely.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Stony.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stony. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
