variants
or less commonly stoney
stonier; stoniest
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
Synonyms
- affectless
- callous
- case-hardened
- cold-blooded
- compassionless
- desensitized
- hard
- hard-boiled
- hard-hearted
- heartless
- indurate
- inhuman
- inhumane
- insensate
- insensitive
- ironhearted
- merciless
- obdurate
- pachydermatous
- pitiless
- remorseless
- ruthless
- slash-and-burn
- soulless
- stonyhearted
- take-no-prisoners
- thick-skinned
- uncharitable
- unfeeling
- unmerciful
- unsparing
- unsympathetic
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
These vines, rooted deep in the stony soil, embody the character of the land and its native flora.
—
John Mariani, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
Some trails that probe this stony playground are Granite Gardens, Constellation, Centennial and Watson Lake Loop.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 26 Oct. 2024
In the wild, Atlantic pillar corals suffered a 97% decline in Florida between 2015-2024, primarily from the stony coral disease.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY, 24 Sep. 2024
Laughter was a bit more scattered than in my press and industry screening that morning, and the European couple next to me sat in stony silence for much of the movie.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for stony 
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John Mariani, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
Some trails that probe this stony playground are Granite Gardens, Constellation, Centennial and Watson Lake Loop.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 26 Oct. 2024
In the wild, Atlantic pillar corals suffered a 97% decline in Florida between 2015-2024, primarily from the stony coral disease.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY, 24 Sep. 2024
Laughter was a bit more scattered than in my press and industry screening that morning, and the European couple next to me sat in stony silence for much of the movie.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for stony
Dictionary Entries Near stony
Cite this Entry
“Stony.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stony. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
stony
adjective
variants
also stoney
stonier; stoniest
1
a
: full of stones
stony soil
b
: hard as stone
a stony seed
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