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fusty

[fuhs-tee]
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adjective, fus·ti·er, fus·ti·est.
  1. having a stale smell; moldy; musty: fusty rooms that were in need of a good airing.
  2. old-fashioned or out-of-date, as architecture, furnishings, or the like: They still live in that fusty, gingerbread house.
  3. stubbornly conservative or old-fashioned; fogyish.
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Origin of fusty

1350–1400; Middle English fusti, equivalent to fust (noun) < Old French: wine cask, tree trunk (< Latin fūstis stick, pole) + -y1
Related formsfus·ti·ly, adverbfus·ti·ness, noun

Synonyms

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1. close, stuffy, oppressive; smelly, malodorous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

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British Dictionary definitions for fusty

fusty

adjective -tier or -tiest
  1. smelling of damp or mould; musty
  2. old-fashioned in attitude
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Derived Formsfustily, adverbfustiness, noun

Word Origin

C14: from fust wine cask, from Old French: cask, tree trunk, from Latin fūstis cudgel, club
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

Word Origin and History for fusty

adj.

"stale-smelling," late 14c., from Old French fusté "fusty, tasting of the cask," from Old French fuist "wine cask," originally "stick, stave," from Latin fustis "staff, stick of wood." Related: Fustiness.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper