stale
1 Americanadjective
-
not fresh; vapid or flat, as beverages; dry or hardened, as bread.
- Antonyms:
- fresh
-
musty; stagnant.
stale air.
-
having lost novelty or interest; hackneyed; trite.
a stale joke.
- Synonyms:
- common, old, stereotyped, uninteresting
-
having lost freshness, vigor, quick intelligence, initiative, or the like, as from overstrain, boredom, or surfeit.
He had grown stale on the job and needed a long vacation.
-
Law. having lost force or effectiveness through absence of action, as a claim.
verb (used with or without object)
verb (used without object)
adjective
-
(esp of food) hard, musty, or dry from being kept too long
-
(of beer, etc) flat and tasteless from being kept open too long
-
(of air) stagnant; foul
-
uninteresting from overuse; hackneyed
stale clichés
-
no longer new
stale news
-
lacking in energy or ideas through overwork or lack of variety
-
banking (of a cheque) not negotiable by a bank as a result of not having been presented within six months of being written
-
law (of a claim, etc) having lost its effectiveness or force, as by failure to act or by the lapse of time
verb
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of stale1
1250–1300; Middle English; akin to Middle Dutch stel in same sense; perhaps akin to stand or to stale 2
Origin of stale2
1400–50; late Middle English stalen to urinate; cognate with German stallen, Danish stalle, Norwegian, Swedish stalla
Explanation
If something is stale, it's no longer fresh. Ever bite into a piece of bread that's been left out a little too long? Chances are it's stale, or dry and hard to eat. Try making some croutons out of it. The word stale comes from the Old French estaler meaning "to halt," which is what happens to your jaw when you try and bite down on a piece of stale bread — it just can't chew through it. But stale isn't a word that's used only when talking about food. When an idea is stale, it's old or boring. And when a horse stales, it's not old and crusty, it's urinating. Step aside.
Vocabulary lists containing stale
Purple Hibiscus
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Life As We Knew It
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The Magician's Nephew
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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.
See Examples For:
But he’ll return, as a ghost, to criticize his son, who, admittedly, has grown staid and stale in his life, his marriage and his work, whatever that’s been.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
“Of course, a director like Spielberg would spend his old age making stale hopecore sci-fi,” a cynic might argue.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
"I had no one to talk to all day -- to the point my mouth almost felt stale from not speaking. But then this little one came along and chatters with me all the time."
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
Teenagers left it on purpose—and understanding why they left, for whom and with what consequences turns a stale lament about kids these days into something more useful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
But Anya wasn’t prepared for what actually met her when the door swung open, eerily silent on its hinges, blowing a gust of stale cavern air over them as they stood in the doorway.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
The debate over whether pineapple belongs on pizza is staler than a three-day-old Domino’s slice.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 31, 2022
They're the perfect base for this croissant bread pudding and in fact, the staler, the better.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2022
“Under the Silver Lake” is rarely uninteresting, but it smells a little staler than it should.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2019
Don’t be fooled by the fancy packaging, though: Rarely in the history of Broadway has a bigger, staler nothingburger been served up than “Pretty Woman.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2018
"It can't be much staler than cleaning that old gun."
From The Rhodesian by Page, Gertrude
The stalest reality show becomes, in her telling, a Talmudic feat: “There is a tribunal of scholars who teaches them how to sing!” she tells Shulem breathlessly.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 14, 2019
Luckily, so expert is Firth’s timing—like that of Emma Thompson, as Bridget’s obstetrician—that laughs, often of the rueful variety, can be conjured in the stalest scenes.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 16, 2016
That old-as-the-Rialto story line is — bear with me — what’s new in this “Shuffle Along,” the part written by Mr. Wolfe, and it’s what feels stalest.
From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2016
When you compete in a multiplayer shooter and you are at a disadvantage until you unlock better weapons; that's the stalest of crust.
From The Verge ● Oct. 28, 2015
The interesting invalid dodge is the stalest and flimsiest known to the guild of artful dodgers.
From Jessamine A Novel by Harland, Marion
Traditionally, sourdough or challah that has staled a bit is used for French toast.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2022
As it staled, I toasted pieces under the broiler and dipped these into runny egg yolks.
From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 2022
Hers features an any-nut frangipane you can slather onto staled panettone, croissants, brioche or even white bread and top with your choice of nuts and fruit.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 20, 2021
The clerk’s disinterest practically staled the air, their voice over the speaker the droning whine of a giant, bored nose.
From Slate ● May 29, 2018
If the Preacher really had staled Mr. Leroy’s money, seemed to me like he’d try to make hisself real hard.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
"The inclusion of legume flours slows staling associated with gluten-free breads due to the resistant starch content of legumes," said Lowe.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2022
And from a wise Italian nonna, Antonietta Fazone, I learned that toasting bread, versus staling it on the counter overnight, it is preferable for preserving its flavor.
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2021
Toasting had preserved the flavor, while staling had not.
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2021
The retrogradation of wheat starch in bread is responsible for staling.
From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2016
"Och Murther," cried Mistress Pettit, "that a dacent woman like I should be charged with staling along with such a spalpeen as Tim Martin, your honor."
From Ups and Downs in the Life of a Distressed Gentleman by Stone, William L. (William Leete)
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.
