tony

comparative tonier · superlative toniest · alternative toney

1. CanadaUSinformalStylish, high-toned, upscale.

   "No ladies or any of your tony friends?"

   1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

   5 more examples

   “He’d scorn it. You heard what he said to-night,” answered Ben. “Never mind that. He’s got tony notions, but he isn’t a pamby, for all his talk.[…]”

   1890 March 29, Vi Van Duzen, “The Strike of the Q. Q.’s”, in Lucy Stone, H[enry] B[rowne] Blackwell, Alice Stone Blackwell, editors, The Woman’s Journal, volume XXI, number 13, Boston, Mass., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 103, column 1

   He bought it for a song in 1984 compared with what his fellow financiers were spending on tonier Park and Fifth Avenues.

   2013 August 16, Robin Finn, “A Former Madoff Penthouse Goes Back on the Market”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Meanwhile, on another plane entirely, “Another Period” (Comedy Central, recently renewed for Season 2) is a send-up of crunchy-gravel dramas, set in tony Rhode Island in 1902.

   2015 October 1, Hank Stuever, “In the hunt for a new favorite show, 'when' might be as crucial as 'what'”, in Washington Post

   My host gained national notoriety after her high-profile arrest in 1993 on charges connected with running L.A.'s toniest prostitution ring.

   2017, David Friend, The Naughty Nineties

   The meaty and more familiar parts of Anna’s story — passing as a German heiress, ripping off tony hotels, brazenly exploiting narcissistic machers and star-struck working women — are told in flashback as Vivian reports her article.

   2022 February 10, Mike Hale, “‘Inventing Anna’ Review: The SoHo Scammer, Explained at Length”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Synonyms: swank

plural tonies · alternative toney

1. archaicA simpleton.

   A pattern and companion fit / For all the keeping tonies of the pit.

   1677 (first performance), John Dryden, All for Love: Or, The World Well Lost. A Tragedy, […], [London]: […] Tho[mas] Newcomb, for Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC, (please specify the page number)

   1 more example

   it would have serv'd for a Caution to People how they trifle and play the Tonies betwixt Jeft and Earnest

   1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC

1. A male given name, a short form of Anthony/Antony

   For a micromoon and Friday the 13th full moon to occur together is extraordinarily rare. The last time it happened was in 1832 and it won't happen again for more than 500 years according to Tony Rice, a meteorologist and engineer at NASA.

   2019 September 13, Matthew Cappucci, “For the first time in 13 years, a full moon rises this Friday the 13th”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 29 Oct 2020

2. A female given name.
3. A surname transferred from the given name

plural Tonys · plural Tonies

1. Any of the statuettes awarded by the American Theatre Wing.

   She was first nominated for a Tony in 1990 for “The Grapes of Wrath,” and she was nominated again, in 1996, for “Buried Child” — both times for best featured actress in a play.

   2021 September 26, Sarah Bahr, “Lois Smith is the oldest performer to win a Tony.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Oct 2021