variants
also stoney
as in ruthless
having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings
the judge's stony demeanor didn't raise the defendant's hopes for a more lenient sentence
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stony
Except every movie tends to get five buckets, while the rest of their time curdles into Tim sharing too much about his personal life as Gregg stares on, his stony, Buster Keaton-like face saying nothing and everything.
—
Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 19 Mar. 2026
That same stony resistance stymied Henry’s next attempt at commercial success, a parasol with a snap-on cover that could be changed to match a woman’s outfit.
—Shoshi Parks, Popular Science, 19 Mar. 2026
The telegraph-poling parties found traces of gold in the stony hills around Pine Creek, south of Darwin, and in 1872 gold-prospecting parties began to arrive through Port Darwin.
—Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2026
High Street began to slope upward, and the terrain became stonier around the sides of the road as Revere and his horse, Brown Beauty, ascended Rock Hill.
—Kostya Kennedy, Time, 16 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stony
Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 19 Mar. 2026
That same stony resistance stymied Henry’s next attempt at commercial success, a parasol with a snap-on cover that could be changed to match a woman’s outfit.
—Shoshi Parks, Popular Science, 19 Mar. 2026
The telegraph-poling parties found traces of gold in the stony hills around Pine Creek, south of Darwin, and in 1872 gold-prospecting parties began to arrive through Port Darwin.
—Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2026
High Street began to slope upward, and the terrain became stonier around the sides of the road as Revere and his horse, Brown Beauty, ascended Rock Hill.
—Kostya Kennedy, Time, 16 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for stony
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stony
Adjective
-
Sure, he’s driven by vengeance and ruthless in his pursuit, but — without spoiling anything — his motivation is clouded at best, misplaced at worst.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Michael’s brother Sonny (James Caan) becomes the de facto crime boss as the Corleones prosecute a turf war against their rivals, and Michael eventually emerges as the new, and much more ruthless boss, much to the horror of his wife, Kay (Diane Keaton).—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Fleeing into the desert with her father, she is hunted by a merciless army and forced to trust a legendary bandit (Mackie) with secrets of his own.—
Mark Meszoros,
Twin Cities,
25 Apr. 2026
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This commentary was not from a wonkish TikToker nor a network pundit but from TMZ, the merciless purveyor of celebrity dirt, which published the images of Graham after a citizen vacationer noticed the senator flitting through the theme park and sent pictures.—
Paula Mejía,
New Yorker,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Larysa, Oleh, and their cousins would scale apple trees and bite into unripe fruit, hard and green.—
Lizzie Johnson,
New Yorker,
25 Apr. 2026
-
The best way to do that is to take the least amount of gas (since the tires are hard like hockey pucks and don’t wear out much).—
Jordan Bianchi,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Accusations were made, lawsuits were filed, harsh words were spoken and feelings were hurt.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
Mercury News,
30 Apr. 2026
-
It’s prized for sculpting a high-definition lip that holds up under the harshest red-carpet lighting.—
Micaela English,
Glamour,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Iran, with its massive military capabilities, its oil wealth, its appetite for regional hegemony and its obdurate Islamism may have been the foremost obstacle to Israel’s integration into the region since 1979.—
Ron Kampeas,
Sun Sentinel,
2 Mar. 2026
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Despite the deluge of new data, the megaliths had given up none of their obdurate strangeness.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
24 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stony.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stony. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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