What does "fust" mean?
A strong musty smell; mustiness.
Fust
/fʌst/ adj, adv, noun, verb
adj, adv, noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A strong musty smell; mustiness.
- Grammar: fust is listed as adj, adv, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: age, antiquate, become extinct, become obsolete.
- Usage evidence: the fust of old books & older cheese / nobody loves gossip like these salaried dudes
How to use "fust"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "fust" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "fust" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "fust" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "fust" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "fust" is acting as adj, adv, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "age" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "fust", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A strong musty smell; mustiness.
"the fust of old books & older cheese / nobody loves gossip like these salaried dudes"
- 2 A type of small galley. historical
"The great hoste abode still till noone or one of the clocke, and then arose, not all, but about 80 or 100 ships, as gallies, galliasses, and fusts: and passed one after another before the towne and haven of Rhodes three miles off, and came to shore in a place nigh to land, called Perambolin, sixe miles from the towne."
- 3 The shaft (main body) of a column.
"Cherici, Giuseppe, & Sons, Volterra. A large alabaster vase, after the Etrurian style; executed in the exhibitors' manufactory in Volterra, […] The vase is placed on the fust of a column of the Tuscan order."
Verb
- 1 To turn mouldy, to decay. intransitive, obsolete
"Sure he that made vs with ſuch large diſcourse / Looking before and after, gaue vs not / That capabilitie and god-like reaſon / To fvſt in vs vnvſed, […]"
- 2 Of wine: to acquire an undesirable musty or woody taste from the cask in which it is stored. intransitive
"VI. To prevent wine from fuſting, otherwiſe taſting of the caſk, and to give it both a taſte and flavour quite agreeable. Stick a lemon with cloves as thick as it can hold; hang it by the bung hole in a bag over the wine in the caſk for three or four days, and ſtop it very carefully for fear of its turning dead, if it ſhould get air."
Adjective
- 1 Nonstandard form of first. alt-of, nonstandard, not-comparable
"I allude to charcolling. Theirs Miss Creasy the dress maker after having the fashuns reglarly from Parris for some months was indust in a luv tif to shut her self up solus with the prevaling mode, but luckly the charcole went out fust."
Adverb
- 1 Nonstandard form of first. alt-of, nonstandard, not-comparable
"She'd drink the gin fust and give him her ten commandments artervards, when she'd aggerawated him to try it on."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"the fust of old books & older cheese / nobody loves gossip like these salaried dudes"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "fust"?
Common synonyms include: age, antiquate, become extinct, become obsolete, date, fade.
How do you use "fust" in a sentence?
the fust of old books & older cheese / nobody loves gossip like these salaried dudes
How do you pronounce "fust"?
Pronounced /fʌst/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English fust, from Old French fust (“wood; bole, tree trunk”) (modern French fût), from Latin fūstis (“knobbed stick, cudgel, club”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to hit”) or *gʷʰen- (“to strike; to kill, slay”).
Etymology 2
Possibly from Portuguese fusta (“fust”), from Latin fusta (“beam (of wood)”), from fūstis (“knobbed stick, cudgel, club”); compare Middle French fuste.