stony

or ston·ey

[ stoh-nee ]

adjective

, ston·i·er, ston·i·est.

1. full of or abounding in stones or rock:

   a stony beach.

   Synonyms: pebbly, rocky

2. pertaining to or characteristic of stone.
3. resembling or suggesting stone, especially in its hardness.
4. unfeeling; merciless; obdurate:

   a stony heart.

   Synonyms: unbending, inflexible, pitiless, flinty, hard, adamant

5. motionless or rigid; without expression, as the eyes or a look:

   a hard, stony stare.

6. petrifying; stupefying:

   stony fear.

7. having a stone or stones, as fruit.
8. Slang. stone-broke.

stony

/ ˈstəʊnɪ /

adjective

1. of or resembling stone
2. abounding in stone or stones
3. unfeeling, heartless, or obdurate
4. short for stony-broke

Derived Forms

• ˈstonily, adverb
• ˈstoniness, noun

Other Words From

• stoni·ly adverb
• stoni·ness noun
• un·stoni·ly adverb
• un·stoni·ness noun
• un·stony adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stony¹

before 1000; Middle English; Old English stānig. See stone, -y ¹

Example Sentences

He was told it had been discovered at 18:20 on 24 September on stony ground at the bottom of a drop.

From BBC

On any day, migrants might be illegally crossing the border nearby, breaching a fence that starts, stops and varies in height, a product of shifting politics and stony slopes.

From Los Angeles Times

The company was registered in June 2016, started trading in March 2018 and is now based in Stony Stratford.

From BBC

I went to Chicago in the same trip, and I visited Theaster Gates’ Stony Island Arts Bank and was able to experience his archive of Johnson Publishing and of his ceramic work.

From Los Angeles Times

Black Rainbows, her fourth album, was inspired by artefacts she saw at the Stony Island Arts Bank - a museum of black cultural history in Chicago.

From BBC

Related Words

• expressionless
• frigid