fusty

/'fʌsti/

Thân thiện

The old library had a fusty smell from the dusty, leather-bound books.

Definition

Adjective: 1. Stale and unclean smelling: Having a stale, musty, or damp odor, often due to age, lack of fresh air, or mold. 2. Old-fashioned and out of date: Adhering to or characterized by old, often rigid, ideas, customs, or attitudes; not modern.

Usage and Examples

• Describing a stale smell:
  • The abandoned house had a fusty odor of old books and damp carpets.
  • We opened the fusty attic windows to let in some fresh air.
• Describing old-fashioned attitudes or things:
  • His fusty opinions on technology were of no help to the modern company.
  • The club's fusty rules discouraged many young people from joining.

Advanced Usage

• "fusty with": Can be used to specify the cause of the stale smell or the nature of the old-fashioned quality.
  • The cellar was fusty with the smell of forgotten wine barrels.
  • The professor's lectures were fusty with outdated theories.

Variants and Related Words

• Fustiness (noun): The quality or state of being fusty.
  • The fustiness of the room was overwhelming.

Synonyms

• Musty: Having a stale, moldy smell; also can imply being out-of-date.
• Stuffy: Lacking fresh air; also can mean dull or conventional.
• Antiquated: Very old and no longer useful or fashionable.
• Fogeyish: Characteristic of an old-fashioned, conservative person (a fogy).

Antonyms

• Fresh: New; recently made or obtained; (of air) cool and refreshing.
• Modern: Relating to the present or recent times; contemporary.
• Progressive: Favoring or implementing social reform or new ideas.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "Fusty old": A common collocation used for emphasis.
  • He was just a fusty old bureaucrat resistant to any change.
  • They cleared out the fusty old furniture from the storage room.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. old-fashioned and out of date
2. stale and unclean smelling

Từ đồng nghĩa

• standpat
• unprogressive
• nonprogressive
• musty
• frowsty