DictionaryAI

rocky

adjective
RAH-kee/ˈɹɑki/SayROK-eeUK/ˈɹɒki/AUS/ˈɹɔki/

8 meanings of rocky

Practice

  1. 1
    adjective
    Having a lot of rocks, or made of rock.

    We walked slowly down the rocky path to the beach.

    Nothing grows well in this rocky soil.

    Similarstony, craggy, rugged

    Note
  2. 2
    adjectivefiguratively
    Full of problems and hard to get through, or in danger.

    Their friendship went through a rocky time after the fight.

    The new school year had a rocky start, but things got better.

    Similardifficult, tough, hard, unstable, unsteady

    Oppositesmooth, easy

    Note
  3. 3
    adjective
    Not steady, so it moves or wobbles easily.

    My chair is rocky because one leg is too short.

    Don't stand on that rocky old stool.

    Similarwobbly, tottering

    Oppositesteady, stable

    Note
  4. 4
    adjectivefiguratively
    Feeling sick, or weak and unsteady, for example after a shock.

    I felt rocky for a while after the long boat ride.

    Grandpa is still a bit rocky after his fall, so walk with him.

    Similarshaky, weakened, unnerved

    Oppositewell, steady

    Note
  5. 5
    adjective
    Hard and solid, like a rock.
    Marsh went on as his prisoner drank. "Because you're caught in the middle of my alternate plan, Ram-Jam, which ram-jams your ass between the rockiest rock and the hardest hard place you ever imagined.
    1988, Lloyd Pye Lloyd Pye, MismatchHere, rockiest means most solid and hard, like rock.

    Similarflinty, stonelike

    Note
  6. 6
    adjective
    Having the sound or feel of rock music.

    I like the rocky songs on this album best.

    The band sounds a lot rockier live than on the radio.

    Note

Less common meanings

  1. 7
    adjectivearchaicfiguratively
    Hard and cold inside, and not easily moved or touched.

    Even the sad story did not move her rocky heart.

    The old king had a rocky heart and never cared who suffered.

    Note
  2. 8
    adjective
    Used about a plant or animal that lives on or around rocks.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1, 5, 7

From Middle English rokki, made from rok ("rock") and an ending that makes adjectives; in English it is rock + -y.

Meanings 2–4

From the verb rock ("to move back and forth") + -y.

Meaning 6

From rock (the music) + -y.