stony - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English stony, stoni, stani, from Old English stāniġ, stǣniġ (“stony, rocky”), from Proto-Germanic *stainagaz (“stony”), equivalent to stone +‎ -y. Cognate with Scots stany (“stony”), West Frisian stienich (“stony”), Dutch stenig (“stony, metalled”), German steinig (“stony, rocky, gravelly”), Swedish stenig (“stony, rocky, pebbly”).

stony (comparative stonier, superlative stoniest)

  1. As hard as stone.
    Synonyms: rock hard, stonelike
    Antonym: soft
    a stony polymer
  2. Containing or made up of stones.
    Synonyms: pebbly, rocky, shingly
    a stony path
    • 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 443:
      The track was stony with a grassy camber up the middle.
  3. (figuratively) Of a person, lacking warmth and emotion.
    Synonyms: stone cold, cold, cool, hardhearted, heartless, impassive, unemotional, unfeeling; see also Thesaurus:stern
    Antonyms: passionate, warm
    a stony grandmother
    • 2012 March 19, David Denby, “Everybody Comes to Rick’s: “Casablanca” on the Big Screen”, in The New Yorker‎[1]:
      When Victor Laszlo leads the demoralized French in the “Marseilles[sic – meaning _Marseillaise_],” and even Yvonne, the chippy who is sleeping with a Nazi officer, joins in, the stoniest intellectual collapses in tears.
  4. (figuratively) Of an action or expression, such as a look, showing no warmth of emotion; (usually also) emotionally cold, silent, and motionless or nearly so.
    Synonyms: stone cold, cold, cool, frosty, unwelcoming
    Antonyms: welcoming, warm
    a stony reception; a stony look; a stony silence
    • 1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 264:
      o’er the heaps of dead, / Whose stony eyes glared in the morning light, / I trod; […]
    • 1977 April 9, “Mailer Mauls "Perverts"”, in Gay Community News, page 2:
      The Oscar-thrilled audience reacted to Mailer's attempt at humor in stony silence.
    • 2019 April 10, qntm, “CASE HATE RED”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 137:
      Perplexed, Wheeler continues to play for a moment or two, keeping to his own internal time. But after another moment it becomes clear that something is wrong, something which everybody can see but him. He steals a glance up from his instrument, and finds that Luján is staring at him. In fact, every musician in the orchestra is staring at him, all of them wearing the same expression of stony, barely-contained ang—
      They've been replaced.
  5. (UK and Australia, slang) Ellipsis of stony broke: without any money.
    Synonyms: stone broke; see also Thesaurus:impoverished

hard as stone

containing stones

of a person

Inherited from Old English stāniġ, from Proto-West Germanic *stainag, from Proto-Germanic *stainagaz; equivalent to ston +‎ -y.

stony

  1. Comprised of or made from stone or rock.
  2. Covered in stones or pebbles.
  3. Inhabiting a stony environment.
  4. (figurative) Emotionless; stolid.
  5. (pathology) Hard, solid.

stony

  1. alternative form of stoneyen