flinty

adjective

ˈflin-tē 

flintier; flintiest

1

: resembling flint

especially : stern, unyielding

flinty determination

2

: composed of or covered with flint

flintily

ˈflin-tə-lē 

adverb

flintiness

ˈflin-tē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• austere
• authoritarian
• hard
• harsh
• heavy-handed
• ramrod
• rigid
• rigorous
• severe
• stern
• strict
• tough

Examples of flinty in a Sentence

a flinty and determined hero

a flinty warrior hardened by years of battle

Recent Examples on the Web

One of the liveliest genre examples is director Raine Allen-Miller’s sassy London-set, day-long rom-com that doesn’t waste one nano-second of its flinty 82-minute running time. —Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 13 Feb. 2025

Their devotion to the cause, and their flinty brand of Central European bohemianism, could come off as cultish, in a benign way. —Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025

These flinty souls remain a study in principled self-reliance and human ingenuity, having supported themselves and their families for years through subsistence farming and sundry side hustles: ceramics, teaching, salmon fishing, instrument making, firewood hawking, and weed growing. —Christine Ro, Longreads, 17 Sep. 2024

Then papa bear Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce, in a fine, flinty performance) arrives home early. —Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 2 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1536, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for flinty

• inti
• minty