fusty

adjective

fus·​ty ˈfə-stē 

fustier; fustiest

1

British : impaired by age or dampness : moldy

2

: saturated with dust and stale odors : musty

3

: rigidly old-fashioned or reactionary

fustily

ˈfə-stə-lē 

adverb

fustiness

ˈfə-stē-nəs 

noun

Did you know?

Fusty probably derives from the Middle English word foist, meaning "wine cask," which in turn traces to the Medieval Latin word fustis, meaning "tree trunk" or "wood." So how did fusty end up meaning "old-fashioned"? Originally, it described wine that had gotten stale from sitting in the cask for too long; fusty literally meant that the wine had the "taste of the cask." Eventually any stale food, especially damp or moldy food, was called "fusty." Those damp and moldy connotations were later applied to musty places, and later still to anything that had lost its freshness and interest—that is, to anything old-fashioned.

Synonyms

• fetid
• foul
• frowsty [chiefly British]
• frowsy
• frowzy
• funky
• malodorous
• musty
• noisome
• rank
• reeking
• reeky
• ripe
• smelly
• stenchy
• stinking
• stinky
• strong

Choose the Right Synonym for fusty

malodorous, stinking, fetid, noisome, putrid, rank, fusty, musty mean bad-smelling.

malodorous may range from the unpleasant to the strongly offensive.

malodorous fertilizers

stinking and fetid suggest the foul or disgusting.

prisoners were held in stinking cells

the fetid odor of skunk cabbage

noisome adds a suggestion of being harmful or unwholesome as well as offensive.

a stagnant, noisome sewer

putrid implies particularly the sickening odor of decaying organic matter.

the putrid smell of rotting fish

rank suggests a strong unpleasant smell.

rank cigar smoke

fusty and musty suggest lack of fresh air and sunlight, fusty also implying prolonged uncleanliness, musty stressing the effects of dampness, mildew, or age.

a fusty attic

the musty odor of a damp cellar

Examples of fusty in a Sentence

The trunk was full of fusty clothing.

couldn't stay too long in the fusty attic without sneezing

Recent Examples on the Web

The piece deepened the fault lines between Friedrich, the Romantic prince of sublimity and feeling, and the fusty rationalists who preceded him. —Zachary Fine, The New Yorker, 28 June 2024

The deliciously macabre displays of taxidermy are a highlight, but the museum also manages to avoid feeling too fusty by bringing in contemporary artists to produce works in conversation with its collections, from Sterling Ruby to Jeff Koons. —Elise Taylor, Vogue, 16 June 2024

Laugh-track shows were coming to seem not just condescending but also stiff and fusty. —Jacob Stern, The Atlantic, 15 Apr. 2024

What this absolutism produced, of course, was not another fusty neo-Edwardian novel à la Orwell’s earlier Keep the Aspidistra Flying, but a wild, aggrieved tour de force of dystopian erotica. —Stephen Metcalf, The Atlantic, 5 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

probably alteration of Middle English foisted, foist musty, from foist wine cask, from Anglo-French fust, fuist wood, tree trunk, cask, from Medieval Latin fustis

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

fusty

adjective

fus·​ty ˈfəs-tē 

fustier; fustiest

1

: full of dust and stale odors : musty

2

: very old-fashioned

fustily

-tə-lē 

adverb

fustiness

-tē-nəs 

noun