stony
/ˈstoʊni/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.30 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Containing or made up of stones.
adj
Of an action or expression, such as a look, showing no warmth of emotion; (usually also) emotionally cold, silent, and motionless or nearly so.
Example Sentences
- "a stony polymer"
- "a stony path"
- "The track was stony with a grassy camber up the middle."
- "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."
- "a stony reception"
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: stony, stāniġ, *stainagaz
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈstoʊni/
- British English: /ˈstəʊni/
Usage
- Australian usage
- British usage
- Slang