fusty
Americanadjective
-
having a stale smell; moldy; musty.
fusty rooms that were in need of a good airing.
- Synonyms:
- malodorous, smelly, oppressive, stuffy, close
-
old-fashioned or out-of-date, as architecture, furnishings, or the like.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.
adjective
-
smelling of damp or mould; musty
-
old-fashioned in attitude
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fusty
1350–1400; Middle English fusti, equivalent to fust (noun) < Old French: wine cask, tree trunk (< Latin fūstis stick, pole) + -y 1
Explanation
Use the adjective fusty to describe something that's covered with dust and smells a little old and musty. Your grandmother's attic is probably full of fusty knickknacks. Fusty is perfect for describing anything from a slightly mildewed quilt at the back of your closet to your brother's camping gear, forgotten in the trunk of his car for months and smelling a little ripe. You can also use it to talk about an antique idea or attitude, like your uncle's fusty, outdated opinions on the roles of men and women. The Old French root of fusty is fusté, "tasting or smelling of the cask," from fuist, "wine cask."
Vocabulary lists containing fusty
Less Common Five-letter Words for Wordle
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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David Copperfield
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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.
Widow’s Bay is indeed a fusty place where everyone drives old cars, uses ancient computers and communicates on walkies and landlines since neither cell phones nor Wi-Fi connectivity works.
From Salon • Jun. 18, 2026
These girls make up what the school’s fusty headmistress, Miss Mackay, derisively labels “the Brodie set.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025
In the 1990s, mayor Richard Riordan raised private millions to spruce up the fusty place to make it fit for official receptions and events.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 17, 2024
That breach of cricketing etiquette, in an era of fusty formality, was sufficient to slightly irk Bradman as he walked from his crease.
From BBC • Jun. 1, 2024
“Our clothes,” he said, “got somewhat fusty in the rebels' little New Year's callithump. They're rowdy boys, and I reckon they knocked down a candle during their celebrations.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
