stony
/ˈstoʊni/adjective
stony is spelled S-T-O-N-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “stoney vs stony” about 40 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, stony means “As hard as stone” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in stony?
| Letters | 5: S-T-O-N-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,589th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is stony?
Stony appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce stony?
- UK /ˈstəʊni/
- US /ˈstoʊni/
Stony has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-stony.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with stony
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: stoney, stony broke.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with stony?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as stony from its last stressed vowel (/oʊni/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of stony
- stonier comparative
- stoniest superlative
- stoney
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does stony mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
As hard as stone.
a stony polymer
- 2
Containing or made up of stones.
a stony path
- 3
Of a person, lacking warmth and emotion.
a stony grandmother
- 4
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
- 5
AustraliaUKslangEllipsis of stony broke: without any money.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Stony in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does stony come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).