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Synonyms

musty

1 American  
[muhs-tee] / ˈmʌs ti /

adjective

mustier, mustiest

  1. having an odor or flavor suggestive of mold, as old buildings, long-closed rooms, or stale food.

    Synonyms:
    stale, moldy, dank

  2. obsolete; outdated; antiquated.

    musty laws.

  3. dull; apathetic.

musty 2 American  
[muhs-tee] / ˈmʌs ti /

noun

plural

musties

  1. (formerly) a kind of snuff having a musty flavor.

musty British  
/ ˈmʌstɪ /

adjective

  1. smelling or tasting old, stale, or mouldy

  2. old-fashioned, dull, or hackneyed

    musty ideas
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • mustily adverb
  • mustiness noun

Etymology

Origin of musty1

1520–30; perhaps variant of moisty ( Middle English; moist, -y 1 ) with loss of i before s as in master

Origin of musty2

First recorded in 1700–10; noun use of musty 1

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.

The garden was overgrown and the kitchen smelled musty.

From The Wall Street Journal

The store had been closed since his attack, and already the air felt musty.

From Literature

New research now shows that the distinctive musty scent of mummified remains holds valuable clues about how these elaborate burial rituals were carried out.

From Science Daily

I’m hit with a musty, mouldy smell and another wave of disappointment.

From Literature

Above me the thud and scrape of thirty-plus men shoving barrels of tea around was almost deafening and the interior of the ship had an overpowering musty smell that made my stomach roll a little.

From Literature

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.