musty

¹

[muhs-tee]

noun

plural

musties 

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

musty

²

[muhs-tee]

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 obsolete; outdated; antiquated.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

/ ˈmʌstɪ /

adjective

1. smelling or tasting old, stale, or mouldy

2. old-fashioned, dull, or hackneyed

   musty ideas

Other Word Forms

• mustily adverb
• mustiness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of musty¹

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

Origin of musty²

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of musty¹

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

Example Sentences

O’Neal hired a company that developed scents for Las Vegas casinos in an effort to eliminate the musty aroma that often plagues secondhand stores.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“The Library of Lost Maps” begins in this way, with a suitably romantic discovery that evokes the musty, analog nature of the map room’s treasures.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The intricate ensemble, weighing in at less than 4 pounds, somehow survived the Spanish conquest, a perilous ocean crossing and two centuries of musty anonymity in a Tirolean castle.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Notwithstanding some clunky moments, Mr. Ansari not only engineers up-to-the-minute twists on the musty Hollywood angel movie, but decorates his story with clever dialogue and wicked observations about street-level existence in the City of Angels.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It was musty and slightly astringent, not unlike the communal bin area in his block of flats.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• airless 
• ancient 
• crumbling www.thesaurus.com
• dank 
• decrepit 
• fetid 
• moldy 
• putrid 
• smelly 
• squalid 
• stale 
• stuffy