fusty
/'fʌsti/
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 Old-fashioned and out of date: Adhering to or characterized by old, often rigid, ideas, customs, or attitudes; not modern.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- The professor's lectures were fusty with outdated theories.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- Musty: Having a stale, moldy smell; also can imply being out-of-date.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.
Adjective
-
old-fashioned and out of date
-
stale and unclean smelling
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