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
Reveille’s stony facade greets visitors at the top of a winding driveway.
—
Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 14 June 2024
Republican lawmakers led by House Speaker Mike Johnson sat in stony silence as Biden trashed Trump and his GOP allies for whitewashing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 14 June 2024
Scleractinia, a group of stony coral species, shone yellow.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 13 June 2024
Many scenes in Scavengers Reign recall his phantasmagorical design work on the 1982 film Time Masters, like in the stony structures that grow like branches and a variety of bizarre bulbous fruit.
—Kambole Campbell, Vulture, 31 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for stony 
Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 14 June 2024
Republican lawmakers led by House Speaker Mike Johnson sat in stony silence as Biden trashed Trump and his GOP allies for whitewashing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 14 June 2024
Scleractinia, a group of stony coral species, shone yellow.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 13 June 2024
Many scenes in Scavengers Reign recall his phantasmagorical design work on the 1982 film Time Masters, like in the stony structures that grow like branches and a variety of bizarre bulbous fruit.
—Kambole Campbell, Vulture, 31 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for stony
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stony.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near stony
Cite this Entry
“Stony.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stony. Accessed 3 Jul. 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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