Fusty
adj ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Moldy or musty.
- 2 Stale-smelling or stuffy.
"I rather vvonder vvhat Charms a VVoman of any Spirit can fancy in a Nunnery, in vvatching, vvorking, praying, and ſometimes, I am afraid, vviſhing for other Company than that of an old fuſty Friar— […]"
- 3 Old-fashioned, refusing to change or update. broadly, figuratively
"In contrast to exploitation or suppression or even alienation, involution is presented as part of the natural order of things—like bad weather. You can’t point fingers at an abstraction or rally against a fusty term from an anthropology text."
- 4 Tasting of the cask.
"Now consider what happens when that flavor is not fresh lemon but scorched garlic or some fusty wine. Unpleasant flavors are distributed at the same molecular level as good ones."
- 1 old-fashioned and out of date wordnet
- 2 stale and unclean smelling wordnet
Example
More examples"Steve is a fusty old man who won't listen to music made after 1975."
Etymology
From Middle English fusty, equivalent to fust + -y. Compare Scots foosty.
Related phrases
More for "fusty"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.