1
as in stinking
having an unpleasant smell
musty old gym socks
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cliche
used or heard so often as to be dull
the musty prose of writers who use the same expressions over and over
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of musty
Keep reading to find out what's causing that musty smell in your closet.
—
Rabekah Henderson, Southern Living, 8 Feb. 2025
Professional darts has transformed over the last two decades, largely guided by Hearn, from a pastime practiced in musty pubs by middle-aged men to an international phenomenon.
—Claire Moses, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2025
Most people old enough to remember MGAs, MGBs, MG Midgets, and, in rarer cases, the cycle-fender T-Series that started it all—featured in Two for the Road, with Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn—have relegated the storied marque to the musty garage of fading memory.
—Jamie Kitman, airmail.news, 14 Dec. 2024
Though some mold growth pops out in plain sight, announcing itself through an unappealing array of new colorful splotches, there are myriad less obvious signs that mold spores are present, like musty smells, unfamiliar water stains, and even warped or disfigured materials, like wallpaper or wood.
—Bridget Reed Morawski, Architectural Digest, 14 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for musty
Rabekah Henderson, Southern Living, 8 Feb. 2025
Professional darts has transformed over the last two decades, largely guided by Hearn, from a pastime practiced in musty pubs by middle-aged men to an international phenomenon.
—Claire Moses, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2025
Most people old enough to remember MGAs, MGBs, MG Midgets, and, in rarer cases, the cycle-fender T-Series that started it all—featured in Two for the Road, with Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn—have relegated the storied marque to the musty garage of fading memory.
—Jamie Kitman, airmail.news, 14 Dec. 2024
Though some mold growth pops out in plain sight, announcing itself through an unappealing array of new colorful splotches, there are myriad less obvious signs that mold spores are present, like musty smells, unfamiliar water stains, and even warped or disfigured materials, like wallpaper or wood.
—Bridget Reed Morawski, Architectural Digest, 14 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for musty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for musty
Adjective
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This is about a team with a top-10 payroll whose GM committed too stinking much of it to dogs that can’t, or won’t, pull the sled.—
Sean Keeler,
The Denver Post,
22 Dec. 2019
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Muttaiah said the man inside the stinking manhole was working without any safety equipment — no gloves, no shoes, no supplemental oxygen.—
Joanna Slater,
Washington Post,
16 Dec. 2019
Adjective
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Paradoxically, the most lucrative magazine today is likely the Costco Connection, which emerges monthly from the fusty and secretive Kirkland, WA, marketing empire.—
Peter Bart,
Deadline,
20 Feb. 2025
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And yet the Guthman has been going strong since 2009, when what was formerly a fusty piano competition endowed by the Georgia Tech alumnus Richard Guthman transformed into a showcase for instrument inventors, in a bid to tie the school’s music program to its international high-tech reputation.—
Matthew Sherrill,
Harper's Magazine,
19 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Tragedies can be examined by those outside of its sphere of destruction, but the groundswell of feeling from Mexican viewers and critics is that there was little or no care taken to understand the cultural grief beyond stereotyped spectacle.—
Lucy Ford,
TIME,
24 Jan. 2025
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Founded by artists who grew up in Maryvale, Salcido said the purpose of Labor is to be the bridge that shows the artistic capacity and potential of Maryvale because the neighborhood is too often stereotyped, underrepresented and ignored.—
David Ulloa Jr,
The Arizona Republic,
6 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Especially once Hasbro took over the game from Parker Brothers, Clue became a brand ripe for licensable extension.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Feb. 2025
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The fruit flavors are ripe and juicy, featuring strawberry, raspberry, and sometimes blackberry.—
Joseph V Micallef,
Forbes,
20 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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In the skincare world, the best retinol serums are put on a pedestal, touted for their ability to breathe new life into tired, aging skin.—
Denise Primbet,
Glamour,
24 Feb. 2025
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Research has also found long-term exposure can result in anemia, which can leave patients feeling weak and tired; a low white blood cell count, which debilitates the immune system; and a low platelet count, which leads to excessive bleeding and bruising.—
Deborah Vankin,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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In a world were hard skills are commonplace, connections are currency.—
Chris Westfall,
Forbes,
3 Mar. 2025
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By that point, however, such rhetoric was commonplace among Russia’s growing movement of neo-imperialists, and a rebuke from the traditional intelligentsia was a badge of honor.—
James Verini,
The New Yorker,
1 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The movie’s a little more hackneyed and obvious now, but its central idea is still an undeniably creepy one: possessed children with pitchforks.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
21 Feb. 2025
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Which is a nauseatingly hackneyed and clichéd — not to mention stupefyingly reductive — type of statement to make about any kind of art or entertainment, of course.—
Andrew Unterberger,
Billboard,
3 Sep. 2019
Adjective
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Before Brummell, the aristocracy dressed in rich, smelly materials; after, styles were adapted from military uniforms—think of the broad shoulders of a British pinstripe suit, for example.—
Gary Shteyngart,
The Atlantic,
7 Feb. 2025
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There’s nothing worse than getting out into the wilderness, away from society, and then hearing somebody one campsite over start up a loud, smelly gas generator.—
Boone Ashworth,
WIRED,
6 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Musty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/musty. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
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