rocky

Meaning

1. Abounding in, or full of, rocks; consisting of rocks.
2. Like a rock; rigid, solid.
3. Having a habitat around or on rocks.
4. Not easily affected or impressed; stony; hard; obdurate; unfeeling.

Synonyms

stony

rough

rugged

bumpy

uneven

cliffy

bouldery

craggy

shaky

flinty

obdurate

jolty

stone

🪨

bouldered

swaying

rickety

jolting

rockbound

unfeeling

jumpy

unstable

unequal

unfirm

unsteady

unyielding

waverer

wiggly

wobbly

wonky

bedrock

flintlike

cragged

cranky

creaky

firm

hard

hilly

inflexible

lumpy

oscillatory

pendulous

precipitous

rigid

rock-ribbed

solid

stark

stiff

stiff necked

strong

tottering

unbending

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɹɒki/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: rokki

Inherited from Old English: *rocc

Inherited from Middle English: rokken

Inherited from Old English: roccian

In summary

From Middle English rokki, rokky (“rocky”), from rok, rokke (“rock; a rock or stone; large rock by a coast or in the sea; rocky outcrop on a mountain, cliff; castle, citadel, stronghold”) [and other forms] + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Rok, rokke are derived from:
* Old English *rocc (“rock”); and
* Anglo-Norman roc, roce, roque, and Old French roce, roke, roque, variants of roche (“rock”);
both from Medieval Latin roca, rocca; further etymology uncertain, possibly of Celtic origin. The English word is analysable as rock + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).