fusty

[ fuhs-tee ]

See synonyms for fusty on Thesaurus.com

adjective,fus·ti·er, fus·ti·est.

having a stale smell; moldy; musty: fusty rooms that were in need of a good airing.
old-fashioned or out-of-date, as architecture, furnishings, or the like: They still live in that fusty, gingerbread house.

stubbornly conservative or old-fashioned; fogyish.

Origin of fusty

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

Other words for fusty

1	close, stuffy, oppressive; smelly, malodorous

See synonyms for fusty on Thesaurus.com

Other words from fusty

fus·ti·ly, adverb
fus·ti·ness, noun

Words Nearby fusty

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fusty in a sentence

While they’ve mostly shed their fusty reputation, documentaries still give the impression of being more nutritious than the average TV treat.
How Docu-Mania Took Streaming by Storm, From Tiger King to WeWork | Judy Berman | April 1, 2021 | Time
Any chance that fusty old uniform can get revamped into something more appropriately Batman-esque for the occasion?
Joe Biden on WikiLeaks Damage and More Sunday Talk | The Daily Beast Video | December 19, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
I know, I know—I feel like a fusty old crank merely posing the question.
Bonfire of the Inanities | Christopher Buckley | March 22, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
I've a good mind to buy the goose going home; but then if it should turn out fusty—I think I had better leave it for Mrs. C.
A Christmas Carol | C. Z. Barnett
He is another 'rusty, fusty, musty old bachelor,' who lacks that 'company' which Misery is said to love.
The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 5, November 1843 | Various

He will also have to sleep at night in fusty rooms, which are often without beds, and are almost invariably teeming with insects.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 703 | Various
And she grubs away at perfectly uncongenial work, and lives with this fusty old mother in a fusty little lodging-house.
Jewel Weed | Alice Ames Winter
There was a fusty little tavern down the street, full of laughing soldiers.
Adventures of a Despatch Rider | W. H. L. Watson

British Dictionary definitions for fusty

fusty

/ (ˈfʌstɪ) /

adjective-tier or -tiest

smelling of damp or mould; musty
old-fashioned in attitude

Origin of fusty

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

Derived forms of fusty

fustily, adverb
fustiness, noun

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

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