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
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
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
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
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
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Canadian quartet Truck Violence have been sloshing together these subgenres in a ruthless manner for several years now, and their sophomore album and debut for the Flenser aims for even higher drops between those peaks and valleys.
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There was relative peace for 11 years, until a second civil war erupted in 1983, when leaders in Khartoum imposed sharia (Islamic) law and accelerated repression of the southern Christian rebels, which ultimately allowed a ruthless military officer, Omar al-Bashir, to come to power in 1989.
Adjective
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The poem that precedes it, the Iliad, is a cruel and beautiful work, the ultimate story of war; the Odyssey has its warlike passages, but its central energies seem almost commonplace beside the merciless fury of Achilles.
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Humility is the posture; the standard is merciless.
Adjective
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In the days leading up to his show, Chavarria and his team were hard at work in his make-shift studio in the 6th arrondissement.
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Closing a chapter, not the relationships For Sevy, the hardest part is closing this chapter with the people who made the place feel like home.
Adjective
-
Plant magnolias somewhere they will be protected from harsh winds, especially when buds or flowers are developing.
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Most clarifying shampoos tend to be a little harsh and drying, but this one is gentle and nourishing.
Adjective
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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.
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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.
Cite this Entry
“Stony.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stony. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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