moldy
Americanadjective
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overgrown or covered with mold.
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musty, as from decay or age.
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Informal. old-fashioned; outmoded.
moldy ideas about higher education.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of moldy
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at mold 2, -y 1
Explanation
Things that have gotten damp and started to smell musty can be described as moldy. You can also use this word for things that are actually growing a fungus on them, like your bag of moldy bread. Mold is a particular type of fungus, often greenish or gray in color. Things become moldy from being stored in dark, damp places or in the case of some food, from not being refrigerated. If you wait months to clean out your locker and throw away your old lunch bags, you might find mold growing on bread crusts, yogurt, or containers of leftover ravioli. Ditch those moldy remnants!
Vocabulary lists containing moldy
Shiloh
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"Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To be clear: These athletes aren’t chowing on the yucky old sports gels we all know and hate, the ones that taste like tangerines and moldy baseball gloves.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
Cigarette butts litter the floor, moldy food is left to decay on greasy dishes and the ceiling is stained with candle soot.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
Brekke calls it “the worst pit I’ve ever seen,” moldy and full of trash.
From Salon • Dec. 18, 2025
Pedro Pascal counts himself among the number who wish the "Harry Potter" author would leave her moldy house and touch grass.
From Salon • Apr. 25, 2025
“If you think my family is living in this moldy corner of hell for the fifty dollars a month!” she practically shouted at him.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
