variants or less commonly stoney
stonier; stoniest
1
: abounding in or having the nature of stone : rocky
2
a
: insensitive to pity or human feeling : obdurate
b
: manifesting no movement or reaction : dumb, expressionless
c
: fearfully gripping : petrifying
3
archaic : consisting of or made of stones
4
British : stone broke
stonily adverb
stoniness noun

Examples of stony in a Sentence

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
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.
Havoc brings the heat, throwing Tom Hardy's stony Walker into a hotbed of gangsters, dirty cops, corrupt elites, and wicked assassins. Randall Colburn, EW.com, 28 Apr. 2025 Yeo, with even less to work with, fares a little better with her stony matriarch character, doing a lot with a simple tilt of her face to the sky and a single tear. Alison Willmore, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2025 This is a show that has always seemed most comfortable in the murk, down to a stony conspiracy-thriller aesthetic that feels half a galaxy removed from the shiny lightsabers and cuddly critters that have defined so much of this franchise. Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 21 Apr. 2025 The stony, loam soils and climatic conditions (very hot days and cool nights) mimic the best growing conditions on steep slopes along the Rhine, which results in optimal expressions of Riesling. Jillian Dara, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for stony

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of stony was before the 12th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Stony.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stony. Accessed 2 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

stony

adjective
variants also stoney
stonier; stoniest
1
a
: full of stones
stony soil
b
: hard as stone
a stony seed
2
: pitiless, unfeeling
a stony stare
stonily adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on stony

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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