flintyadj.
/ˈflɪnti/, U.S. /ˈflɪn(t)i/ 1.
a. Of or consisting of flint; derived from flint.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > [adjective] > flint
flinted1568
flintya1616
flinty-looking1890
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) ii. i. 27 Let vs resolue to scale their flinty bulwarkes. View more context for this quotation
1716 J. Gay Trivia i. 2 Earth from her Womb a flinty Tribute pays.
1799 R. Kirwan Geol. Ess. 447 Pieces of fossil wood have been found penetrated with flinty matters.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake i. 14 Each purple peak, each flinty spire, Was bathed in floods of living fire.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles I. viii. 100 Sometimes..flinty sparks from the horse's hoofs outshone the daylight.
b. Full of flint-stones.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > [adjective] > flint > full of
flinty1626
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §599 The gathering up of Flints in Flinty Ground..is no good Husbandry.
1802 J. Playfair Illustr. Huttonian Theory 108 Such a body of flinty gravel as is found about Kensington.
2. Resembling flint.
a. in texture or in colour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [adjective] > flint grey
flintya1642
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 104 Flinty-wheate, that is, if yow bite a corne asunder with your teeth, yow shall see that the meale of it is of a darkish, bley, and flinty colour.
1779 J. Moore View Society & Manners France II. lv. 57 Black stones of a flinty texture.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. (1856) xxx. 258 We had to quarry out the blocks [of ice] in flinty, glassy lumps.
1859 All Year Round 3 Dec. 126 Turkish flint-wheat is one of those recommended as ‘a hardy, full variety, with..a long, flinty, light-coloured berry’.
b. Having the characteristic qualities of flint; hard, impenetrable, rugged; spec. applied to varieties of maize (cf. flint corn n. at flint n. Compounds 3).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > [adjective]
hardeOE
braasny1382
dure1412
flinty?1541
obdurate1598
putaminous1598
oakeda1618
marblya1620
obdure1625
marmorean1656
durous1666
calculous1682
scirrhous1694
horn-hard1768
marmoreal1798
?1541 R. Copland Galen's Fourth Bk. Terapeutyke sig. Ciij, in Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens The cause..that before made the vlceres harde and flynty.
1602 J. Marston Hist. Antonio & Mellida i. sig. C2 The flintie rocks groand at his plaints.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 107 Rough upon the flinty Rock he lies. View more context for this quotation
1814 J. Taylor Arator (ed. 2) 268 The small flinty forward kind [of corn], producing from two to six ears on a stalk, inspired the most hope.
1847 R. W. Emerson Monadnoc in Wks. (1906) I. 435 The country's flinty face, Like wax, their fashioning skill betrays.
1871 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries Abyssinia (new ed.) xii. 202 The mare..scattering the rounded pebbles..from her flinty hoofs.
1884 York Herald 19 Aug. 7/2 All the new grain comes to hand in a flinty condition.
3. quasi-adverb.1580 T. Lupton Siuqila 72 Their stonny hartes are so flintie harde.
a. figurative. Of a person or his heart: Obdurate, unfeeling, hard-hearted. Cf. stony adj. 5.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > hard-heartedness > [adjective]
hard hearteOE
hateleOE
hard-heartedc1225
cruel1297
dure1412
flinty1536
heartless1556
flint-hearted1560
stone-hearted?1569
stony-hearted1569
iron-hearted1570
steel-hearted1571
unbowelled1592
blunt1594
flintful1596
flint-heart1596
brassy1600
unfeeling1600
cold-blooded1602
cold-hearteda1616
flinty-hearted1629
callous1647
unsympathizing1735
cool-hearted1748
pebble-hearted1816
unsympathetic1823
cold1849
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [adjective] > callous or hard-hearted
hard hearteOE
steelena1000
hardOE
hard-heartedc1225
stony?c1230
yhert1340
dure1412
hardedc1425
induratec1425
stonishc1450
hardenedc1480
steely1508
flinty1536
endured1540
stiff-stomached1540
heartless1556
indured1558
flint-hearted1560
iron1561
marble1565
stone-hearted?1569
stony-hearted1569
iron-hearted1570
steel-hearted1571
rocky?1578
brawned1582
flinted1582
padded1583
obdure?1590
brawny1596
flintful1596
flint-heart1596
steeled1600
cauterized1603
indurated1604
flinty-hearted1629
ahenean1630
dedolent1633
brawny-hearteda1639
hard-grained1643
callous1647
upsitten1682
seared1684
petrified1720
calloused1746
coreless1813
pebble-hearted1816
hard-shelled1848
hard-plucked1857
steel trap1921
1536 H. Latimer Let. 8 Jan. in Serm. & Remains (1845) (modernized text) II. 372 If his heart be so stony, so flinty.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iv. iv. 7 Gratitude Through flintie Tartars bosome would peepe forth. View more context for this quotation
a1797 E. Burke Thoughts on Scarcity (1800) 17 The flinty heart and griping hand of base self-interest.
1829 T. Carlyle German Playwrights in Foreign Rev. Jan. 98 We ourselves have known the flintiest men, who professed to have wept over them.
1878 M. E. Braddon Open Verdict I. ii. 29 ‘Fathers have flinty hearts’, retorted Kenrick lightly.
b. Of immaterial things: Hard; harsh.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [adjective] > full of hardship
hardOE
soreOE
starkOE
difficult1562
flinty1613
rugged1663
rough1709
rude1735
tough1890
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > severity > [adjective]
heavyc825
grimc900
strongeOE
hardeOE
drearyOE
eileOE
sweerOE
deara1000
bitterOE
tartc1000
smartOE
unridec1175
sharp?c1225
straitc1275
grievousc1290
fellc1330
shrewda1387
snella1400
unsterna1400
vilea1400
importunea1425
ungainc1425
thrallc1430
peisant1483
sore?a1513
weighty1540
heinous?1541
urgent?1542
asperous?1567
dure1567
spiny1586
searching1590
hoara1600
vengible1601
flinty1613
tugging1642
atrocious1733
uncannya1774
severe1774
stern1830
punishing1833
hefty1867
solid1916
1613 N. Breton Vncasing Machiuils Instr. 14 This is the flinty course of this our age.
1644 J. Milton Doctr. Divorce (ed. 2) 62 The gracious..not ruthlesse and flinty ordinance of marriage.
1888 Star 28 Nov. 2/5 Mr. George struck out sharp, strong, flinty sentences.
Compounds
C1.
a. attributive and in other combinations, as flinty-looking adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > [adjective] > flint
flinted1568
flintya1616
flinty-looking1890
1890 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 Aug. 7/2 A dark flinty-looking grain rebounds from your face.
b.
flinty-slate n. (see quot.)
ΚΠ
1879 A. Geikie in Encycl. Brit. X. 238/1 Flinty-slate (Lydian-stone, Hornstone) is a siliceous shale or mudstone..breaking with a conchoidal or splintery fracture.
C2.
flinty-hearted adj. (a) of a person: hard-hearted; (b) having a hard or flint-like core.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > hard-heartedness > [adjective]
hard hearteOE
hateleOE
hard-heartedc1225
cruel1297
dure1412
flinty1536
heartless1556
flint-hearted1560
stone-hearted?1569
stony-hearted1569
iron-hearted1570
steel-hearted1571
unbowelled1592
blunt1594
flintful1596
flint-heart1596
brassy1600
unfeeling1600
cold-blooded1602
cold-hearteda1616
flinty-hearted1629
callous1647
unsympathizing1735
cool-hearted1748
pebble-hearted1816
unsympathetic1823
cold1849
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [adjective] > callous or hard-hearted
hard hearteOE
steelena1000
hardOE
hard-heartedc1225
stony?c1230
yhert1340
dure1412
hardedc1425
induratec1425
stonishc1450
hardenedc1480
steely1508
flinty1536
endured1540
stiff-stomached1540
heartless1556
indured1558
flint-hearted1560
iron1561
marble1565
stone-hearted?1569
stony-hearted1569
iron-hearted1570
steel-hearted1571
rocky?1578
brawned1582
flinted1582
padded1583
obdure?1590
brawny1596
flintful1596
flint-heart1596
steeled1600
cauterized1603
indurated1604
flinty-hearted1629
ahenean1630
dedolent1633
brawny-hearteda1639
hard-grained1643
callous1647
upsitten1682
seared1684
petrified1720
calloused1746
coreless1813
pebble-hearted1816
hard-shelled1848
hard-plucked1857
steel trap1921
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > [adjective] > having a hard core
flinty-hearted1629
1629 P. Massinger Roman Actor iii. ii. sig. F4v If he were not A flintie hearted slaue, he could not vse One of his forme so harshly.
1846 Ld. Campbell Lives Chancellors IV. cxi. 229 The flinty-hearted father asked what settlement was to be made upon his daughter.
1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 24 Mar. 515 Three flinty-hearted potatoes.
Derivatives
ˈflintily adv. in a flinty manner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [adverb] > callously or hard-heartedly
hard-heartedly1583
callously1756
unfeelingly1768
heartlessly1806
flintily1879
stonily1899
hard-boiledly1920
1879 Tinsley's Mag. 24 35 Her aunt was a flintily just woman.
ˈflintiness n. the quality of being flinty.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [noun] > callousness or hard-heartedness
induration1493
indurateness1537
induritness1558
hardenedness1571
stoniness1571
hard-heartedness1577
apathy1603
indolence1603
dedolence1606
flintiness1607
dedolencya1617
searedness1620
callosity1628
indolencya1631
brawnedness1631
calluma1640
atrocity1641
dead-heartedness1642
brawninessa1645
callousness1653
stony-heartedness1673
petrification1678
unsolicitousnessa1683
callus1683
heartlessness1701
petrifaction1722
unreckingness1873
Gradgrindery1920
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > [noun]
hardnessOE
hardinessa1398
obdurityc1600
marblenessa1631
durity1646
unimpressibility1854
flintiness1871
secondary hardening1915
1607 S. Hieron Spirituall Sonne-ship in Wks. (1620) I. 362 When there is an vniuersall flintinesse in mens hearts.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xi. 147 Some people sir would have been all flintiness and granite.
1871 R. A. Proctor Light Sci. 290 The peculiar grittiness and flintiness of its structure.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1536