stony

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”).

adj

1. As hard as stone.
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. (figurative) Of a person, lacking warmth and emotion.
   When Victor Laszlo leads the demoralized French in the “Marseilles,” and even Yvonne, the chippy who is sleeping with a Nazi officer, joins in, the stoniest intellectual collapses in tears. March 19, 2012, David Denby, “Everybody Comes to Rick’s: “Casablanca” on the Big Screen”, in The New Yorker
4. (figurative) Of an action or expression such as a look, showing no warmth of emotion.
   She gave him a stony reception.
5. (UK and Australia, slang) Short for stony broke: without any money.