Dictionary

stony en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈstəʊni/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈstoʊni/ (General-American)

Etymology

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”).

Meanings

1. As hard as stone.
   • a stony polymer
2. Containing or made up of stones.
   • a stony path
   • The track was stony with a grassy camber up the middle. 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 443:
3. (figuratively) Of a person, lacking warmth and emotion.
   • a stony grandmother
   • 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. 2012 March 19, David Denby, “Everybody Comes to Rick’s: “Casablanca” on the Big Screen”, in The New Yorker:
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.
   • a stony reception
   • a stony silence
   • a stony look
   • The Oscar-thrilled audience reacted to Mailer's attempt at humor in stony silence. 1977 April 9, “Mailer Mauls "Perverts"”, in Gay Community News, page 2:
   • 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. 2019 April 10, qntm, “CASE HATE RED”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 137:
   • o’er the heaps of dead, / Whose stony eyes glared in the morning light, / I trod; […] 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:
5. (Australia, UK, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, slang) Ellipsis of stony broke: without any money.
   alt of stony broke
   • Seriously, Dedalus. I’m stony. Hurry out to your school kip and bring us back some money. 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 1]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC:

Forms

Antonyms

warm · warm · passionate · soft · welcoming

Deriveds

Stony Creek · Stony Crossing · stony iron · Stony Stratford · stony-iron · stoniness · unstony · fall on stony ground · Stony Chute · stony-faced · stonyhearted · Stony Brook · Stony Point · stonily · stony coral

Relateds

Hardstone · stony-broke · stonify

Synonyms

callous · beggarly · unwelcoming · farthingless · bankrupt · impecunious · poor · rigorous · arm · rockhearted · tough · unfeeling · broke · humorless · impoverished · lower-class · stone broke · stone-broke · frosty · cold · down on one's uppers · broker than the Ten Commandments · down at heel · frosty · possessionless · stuck · empty-handed · shingly · hardhanded · hardhearted · insensate · down on one's luck · stony · cool · impassive · unwealthy · penurious · hard up · stonehearted · hard-boiled · poor as Job · indigent · stony-broke · brutal · insensitive · marble-hearted · severe · flat · groatless · pebbly · threadbare · depauperate · hard · shillingless · heartless · thick-skinned · poor as a church mouse · oofless · cool · badly off · down and out · moneyless · boracic · strict · icy · goodless · wealthless · skint · necessitous · unmoved · feeling the pinch · cold-eyed · harsh · stonyhearted · in need · stone cold · broken · cold · iron-hearted · unsympathetic · heartless · pok kai · pinched · dour · beggared · disadvantaged · grim · stonelike · destitute · insolvent · stern · poverty-ridden · penniless · almsless · forbidding · poor as a rat · dirt poor · strapped · cold · stone cold · rocky · unemotional · pauperized · flint-hearted · hardhearted · needy · hardened · rock hard · cruel · poverty-stricken

Translations (41)

da stenet (containing stones) · nb steinete (containing stones) · ru каменистый (containing stones) · lb stengeg (containing stones) · de steinern (containing stones) · gl frío (of a person) · alt ташту (containing stones) · fr froid (of a person) · hu köves (containing stones) · grc πετρώδης (containing stones) · fi kivikova (hard as stone) · fi kivinen (containing stones) · alt ташту (hard as stone) · is grýttur (containing stones) · la lapideus (hard as stone) · pl kamienisty (containing stones) · nb steinete (containing stones) · ru жёсткий (of a person) · la saxōsus (containing stones) · ru каменный (hard as stone) · bg безразличен (of a person) · fa سنگدار (containing stones) · non grjót (containing stones) · bg каменист (containing stones) · ru безразличный (of a person) · ru холодный (of a person) · gl duro (of an action) · la lapidosus (containing stones) · ru твёрдый (hard as stone) · fi kallioinen (containing stones) · fr sec (of a person) · sv stenig (containing stones) · gl pétreo (hard as stone) · eo ŝtona (containing stones) · pl kamienny (hard as stone) · ru жёсткий (of an action) · pt pedroso (containing stones) · fa سنگدل (of a person) · fa سنگی (hard as stone) · bg хладен (of a person) · got 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍃 (containing stones)