stony

See also: Stony

English

Alternative forms

• stoney (obsolete)

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈstəʊni/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈstoʊni/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊni

Adjective

stony (comparative stonier, superlative stoniest)

1. As hard as stone.

   Synonym: rock hard

   Antonym: soft

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: cold, cool, hardhearted, heartless, impassive, unemotional, unfeeling; see also Thesaurus:stern

   Antonyms: passionate, warm

   • 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.

   Synonyms: cold, cool, frosty, unwelcoming

   Antonyms: welcoming, warm

   She gave him a stony reception with 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: see Thesaurus:impoverished

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 1]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     Seriously, Dedalus. I’m stony. Hurry out to your school kip and bring us back some money.

Derived terms

• fall on stony ground
• stonily
• stoniness
• stony-broke
• stony coral
• stony-faced
• stonyhearted
• stony iron
• stony-iron
• Stony Stratford

Translations

hard as stone

• Finnish: kivikova (fi)
• Galician: pétreo (gl) m
• Latin: lapideus
• Persian: سنگی (fa) (sangi)
• Polish: kamienny (pl) m

containing stones

• Bulgarian: каменист (bg) (kamenist)
• Danish: stenet
• Esperanto: ŝtona
• Finnish: kivinen (fi), kallioinen (fi)
• German: steinern (de)
• Gothic: 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍃 (stainahs)
• Greek:

  Ancient: πετρώδης (petrṓdēs)

• Hungarian: köves (hu)
• Icelandic: grýttur
• Latin: saxōsus, lapidosus
• Luxembourgish: stengeg
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: steinete

  Nynorsk: steinete

• Old Norse: grjót
• Persian: سنگدار (sangdâr)
• Polish: kamienisty (pl) m
• Portuguese: pedroso m
• Swedish: stenig (sv)

of a person

• Bulgarian: хладен (bg) (hladen), безразличен (bg) (bezrazličen)
• French: froid (fr), sec (fr)
• Galician: frío (gl) m
• Persian: سنگدل (fa) (sangdel)

of an action

• Galician: duro (gl) m

broke — see broke

References

• “stony, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1917.

Anagrams

• Tonys, Tyson, synto

Middle English

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• stani, staniȝ, stany, stoni, stonye

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɔ̝ːniː/, /ˈstɔniː/

Adjective

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.

Descendants

• English: stony
• Scots: stany

References

• “stōnī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 10 April 2018.

Etymology 2

Verb

stony

1. alternative form of stoneyen