stony

Or ston·ey

[stoh-nee]

adjective

stonier, stoniest 

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

Other Word Forms

• stonily adverb
• stoniness noun
• unstonily adverb
• unstoniness noun
• unstony adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stony¹

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

Example Sentences

Entering a local restaurant, he is greeted with stony stares; a white woman points toward the colored entrance.

From Los Angeles Times

Using optical and electron microscopy, Harris and his team determined the rock was a chondrite - the most abundant type of stony meteorite, according to Nasa - which meant that it was approximately 4.56 billion years old.

From BBC

His world is the pastureland, the stony hills of the Jordan Valley, his sheep and cattle, the bed and breakfast he has opened.

From BBC

In the years since they were dug, their surface has sunk into the dry, stony earth.

From BBC

It's a pipe that snakes under the stony beach and out into the Atlantic, sucking up seawater and bringing it onshore.

From BBC

Related Words

• expressionless www.thesaurus.com
• frigid