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stone

stone

103 8.4
A complete lack of feeling or emotion in a person
  • noun
  • /stoʊn/
  • Informal
translation icon : insensibilidad
  • It was just like a cold stone face response.
  • a heart of stone
  • stone-cold

Examples

  • All the while, his expression is hard as stone: he will get through this or die.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • But his stone face showed he wasn't happy.

  • We were not stone then, but light.

  • You really are made of stone!

  • It's like she's turning into stone in front of me, except for her eyes.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • You've a heart of stone.

  • Bushnell was adamant: "To have no desires is to be a stone, not a man."

    Academic text (2010)
  • Epictetus says there's two main ways that people end up having this hardening to stone going on within the soul.

  • You're, you're understanding it in your own way and you'd have to be a stone to not have that affect you.

  • After hearing the news, she looked at him with a stone expression, revealing no hint of her true feelings.

Synonyms

made of stone
vsstone
  • Informal
2 8.1

Not showing any feeling or care

describes emotional unresponsiveness rather than physical composition
stony
vsstone
1 3.9

Very hard and not easy to break

conveys emotional coldness or unresponsiveness, not just physical hardness
stoniness
vsstone
7.1

A hard, cold way of acting that shows no emotion

is specifically about lacking feeling or expression rather than material hardness
7.9

A face and behavior that show no feeling

emphasizes emotional unresponsiveness instead of literal physical hardness
stonelike
vsstone
5.1

Very hard and like stone in look or feel

relates to lack of feeling or expression rather than outward appearance

Antonyms

535 2.1

Showing strong feelings that are easy to see

41 3.4

Showing feelings and ideas clearly in the face or voice

Idioms

set in stone
  • Informal
10 3.9

Not able to be changed

to turn to stone
  • Literature
10 7.7

Become completely still and look like stone when frightened

Try every possible way and search everywhere to achieve a goal

To do two things at once with one action

6 7.7

To be the first to criticize someone when you have the same fault

carved in stone
  • Informal
4 5.7

Fixed and not able to be changed

stone cold sober
  • Informal
3 5.6

Not affected by alcohol or drugs at all

made of stone
  • Informal
2 8.1

Not showing any feeling or care

2 6.7

Fall or fail very quickly and completely

stone cold
  • Informal
1 3.6

Very cold with no warmth

heart of stone
  • Informal
1 6.4

Someone who shows no pity or kindness to others

stone dead
  • Informal
1 5.1

Completely without life or totally not working

stone the crows
  • Archaic
1 9.9

An expression people say to show surprise or disbelief

1 7.8

Old-fashioned and slow to use new technology

8.2

A person who moves from place to place, never staying long

stone deaf
  • Specialized
7.7

Completely unable to hear or accept advice

Compounds

20 3.7

A long time when early people made tools from stone

20 2.7

A low fence made by stacking rough stones to mark boundaries or keep animals out

A thing that helps you make progress toward a goal

18 3.7

A hard mass that forms in the kidney and often causes pain when you pee

A rare valuable gem like a diamond used in jewelry

3 2.8

A flat piece of stone used to make a hard surface for paths or roads

A person who moves often and does not stay in one place

A tall upright stone from very long ago placed alone or in a group

2 3.4

A soft juicy fruit with one hard seed inside, like a peach or cherry

Blarney Stone
  • Literature
1 8.1

A stone at Blarney Castle in Ireland that people kiss to speak in a fluent, pleasant way

1 4.1

A large edible crab with a hard shell found in Florida and southern US waters, often eaten for its meat

philosopher's stone
  • Literature
1 9.9

A magical thing that turns metals into gold and makes people live forever

stone-broke
  • Informal
1 8.6

Having no money at all

1 3.8

A light, rough rock used to rub off hard skin

An ancient carved stone that helped scholars read Egyptian hieroglyphics

1 4.1

Very cold with no warmth left

1 6.7

Unable to hear anything at all

stone-sober
  • Informal
1 6.9

Shows no signs of being drunk

blue stone
  • Archaic
1 7.8

A blue crystal chemical used to kill fungus on plants and in chemistry

bladder stone
  • Specialized
1 5.5

A hard lump of mineral that forms in the bladder

1 2.8

A hard seed inside a cherry that you remove before eating

1 6.3

A heavy round piece of granite with a handle that slides across ice in the game of curling

A wall made of stones fitted together without mortar

1 4.5

A stone placed at a building's start during a ceremony, often with the date and founder's name

1 7.4

A hard, colorful rock often red, brown or green used for jewelry and decoration

1 3.9

Small smooth round rocks about the size of peas used in gardens

A stone like amethyst or turquoise used in jewelry that costs less than diamonds

An experience that helps someone make progress toward a goal

A flat stone in shallow water used to step across

china stone
  • Specialized
9.4

A fine white clay made when rocks break down and used to make pottery and as a filler

cinnamon stone
  • Specialized
9.9

A yellow to brown gem that is a type of garnet used in jewelry

coping stone
  • Specialized
7.8

A flat stone on top of a wall that protects it from rain

emery stone
  • Specialized
7.4

A hard block used to sharpen or polish metal and jewelry

abrading stone
  • Specialized
8.5

A stone people rub on other objects to smooth or sharpen them

flowering stone
  • South African
9.6

A small plant with thick leaves that look like stones and one yellow or white flower

living stone
  • South African
9.3

A small plant with thick leaves that looks like a stone and has yellow or white flowers

A later part of the Stone Age when people begin farming and make polished stone tools

pudding stone
  • Specialized
9.9

A rock made of many pebbles and small stones held together by harder material

Something that helps people understand a difficult subject or system

philosophers' stone
  • Literature
9.9

People in old stories say it changes ordinary metals into gold or gives eternal life

A large tree from central Europe with groups of five needles and edible seeds

stepping stone
  • Specialized
8.0

A computer used by a hacker to reach other computers and hide where they came from

8.6

A large brown fish that lives near rocks and shipwrecks in the Atlantic and Mediterranean

9.5

A low spreading bush with red berries like a raspberry and prickly stems

A person who smashes large hard rocks by hand for building or road work

stone fly
  • Specialized
8.9

A winged insect that lives near streams and whose young live under stones in water

8.9

A small wild animal like a weasel with brown fur and a pale throat patch found in Europe and Asia

stone mimicry plant
  • South African
9.9

A small water-storing plant with thick leaves that look like stones

A wild plant with flat divided leaves and small white or pink flowers

stone cress
  • Specialized
9.8

A small plant with delicate pink flowers that grows on sunny rocky ground

stone curlew
  • Specialized
9.9

A large bird with a big head and eyes that is active at night near coasts and wetlands

stone drill
  • Specialized
6.7

A tool that makes holes in hard rock

stone facing
  • Specialized
6.6

A layer of stone attached to the outside of a wall or riverbank to protect it

A medium-sized pine tree with a wide top that makes edible pine nuts

4.9

A large open hole in the ground where people take stone for building

Not able to see at all

A small plant with thick leaves that look like stones and a single yellow or white flower

9.9

A strong-smelling upright plant with toothed leaves and yellow flowers

A machine that splits large rocks like granite into pieces

A machine that splits large stone blocks like granite or marble into smaller pieces

Having no life or power at all

stone-face
  • South African
9.9

A small plant with thick leaves that looks like a stone and has yellow or white flowers

stone-root
  • Specialized
9.9

A forest plant with strong-smelling leaves and yellow flowers

A dull gray color like stone or slate

How Emotionless

heartless
  • Offensive
79 4.1
stone
  • Informal
103 8.4
reserved
3.7
calm
735 1.0

Surface Forms

stone singular
stones plural

Etymology

Stone meaning lack of feeling comes from the idea of a rock that is cold and hard. So saying someone has a 'stone' in their voice or a 'stone' where their heart should be means they show no feeling.