musty

¹

[ muhs-tee ]

adjective

, mus·ti·er, mus·ti·est.

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 obsolete; outdated; antiquated: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

[ muhs-tee ]

noun

, plural mus·ties.

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

musty

/ ˈmʌstɪ /

adjective

1. smelling or tasting old, stale, or mouldy
2. old-fashioned, dull, or hackneyed

   musty ideas

Derived Forms

• ˈmustiness, noun
• ˈmustily, adverb

Other Words From

• musti·ly adverb
• musti·ness noun

Word History and Origins

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of musty¹

C16: perhaps a variant of obsolete moisty, influenced by must ³

Example Sentences

The musty Conservative Party of Margaret Thatcher was in decline, to be replaced the following year by the sterile charm of Tony Blair and his New Labour project.

From Time

Colman Domingo, the actor and writer, lifts them out of the musty corners of his west Philadelphia childhood in “A Boy and His Soul,” an affectionate and aurally atmospheric one-man memory play.

From Washington Post

The used-book department in the basement had that musty scent of dust and other people’s houses.

From Washington Post

The coronavirus crisis has made things that normally excited college-bound teens, like socializing with peers and gathering in musty classrooms, potential health hazards.

From Ozy

Today, though, its musty depths speak not to local sustenance but global peril.

From Time

While many await discovery in musty warehouses, there is at least one piece whose absence is more difficult to explain.

From The Daily Beast

Quickly climbing the musty stairs to the executive offices, I sought out an old acquaintance.

From The Daily Beast

In the meantime, she is off to Egypt on assignment and he continues his research in the musty clime of an Oxford library.

From The Daily Beast

After five years at Gucci, he got the call to come to Burberry and reinvent the British brand, which had grown musty and stale.

From The Daily Beast

But the creatures did, it appears, spend their last days on a planet as hot and musty as a gym locker room.

From The Daily Beast

Ages back—let musty geologists tell us how long ago—'twas a lake, larger than the Lake of Geneva.

From Project Gutenberg

It's an idle question, I know; wise men and musty philosophers say that regrets are foolish.

From Project Gutenberg

Isn't this free-booting spirit, now, better than leading a cowardly life of musty regularity?

From Project Gutenberg

Her decisions depended not upon the voice of inspiration but upon the musty parchments of the past.

From Project Gutenberg

The air was heavy and musty and the girls shivered as they tried to walk bravely forward.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• airless
• ancient
• crumbling
• dank
• decrepit
• fetid
• moldy
• putrid
• smelly
• squalid
• stale
• stuffy