What does "musty" mean?
A type of snuff with a musty flavour (adjective sense 2).
Musty
/ˈmʌsti/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A type of snuff with a musty flavour (adjective sense 2).
- Grammar: musty is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: fusty, moldy, ancient, antediluvian.
- Useful contrasts: clean, contemporary, fragrant.
- Usage evidence: The secret police forced Ron into a musty, white strait-jacket and carted him off to the nearest asylum.
How to use "musty"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "musty" 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 "musty" 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 "musty" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "musty" 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 "musty" is acting as adj, 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 "fusty" 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 "musty", 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 type of snuff with a musty flavour (adjective sense 2). obsolete, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To turn musty (adjective sense 1 or 2); to must. intransitive, obsolete
"Wi[lding]. But harke thee, harke thee VVill, did'ſt vvinne it? / Ha[zard]. No, but I may looſe it ere I goe to bed. / Doſt think't ſhall muſtie, vvhat's a hundred pound?"
Adjective
- 1 Affected by dampness or mould; damp, mildewed, mouldy.
"[W]hẽ his wordes be wel ſifted, men ſhall find little fine flowre in thẽ, but all very muſtie branne, not worthy ſo muche as to fede either horſe or hogges."
- 2 Of a male animal such as a camel or an elephant: in musth. rare
- 3 Having an odour or taste of mould; also (generally), having a stale or unfresh odour or taste.
"musty food musty furniture a musty odour"
- 4 Characteristic of or relating to mould or mouldiness.
"Not knowing what "swipes" might be, I thought I would run the risk and try it; but it proved a miserable beverage, with a musty, sour flavor, as if it had been a decoction of spoiled pickles."
- 5 Of attitudes, ideas, writing, or other abstract things: no longer fresh or interesting; outdated, stale. figuratively
"An antiquarie is an honest man, for he had rather scrape a piece of copper out of the durt, than a crowne out of Plodion's standish. I know manie wise gentlemen of this mustie vocation, […]"
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Of a person: boring and unadventurous; also, old-fashioned, stuck in the past. figuratively
"[T]hey ſettle upon their ovvn dregs, and grovv muddy and muſty vvith long eaſe, and their proſperity befooleth them to their ovvn deſtruction."
- 7 Bad-tempered, grumpy, irritable. figuratively
"The ill-vvounded Don Quixote vvas exceeding muſty and melancholy, vvith his face bound vp, and ſcarred not by the hand of God, but by the nayles of a Cat (misfortunes annexed to Knight Errantry) ſixe dayes paſt ere hee came abroad: […]"
Adjective
- 1 stale and unclean smelling wordnet
- 2 covered with or smelling of mold wordnet
Antonyms
Example
"The secret police forced Ron into a musty, white strait-jacket and carted him off to the nearest asylum."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "musty"?
Common synonyms include: fusty, moldy, ancient, antediluvian, antiquated, antiquated.
How do you use "musty" in a sentence?
The secret police forced Ron into a musty, white strait-jacket and carted him off to the nearest asylum.
How do you pronounce "musty"?
Pronounced /ˈmʌsti/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English musty; further origin uncertain, possibly from one of the following: * From Anglo-Norman muste, moste, variants of moiste, muiste (“moist”), from Old French moiste (“clammy, damp, moist, wet”) (modern French moite (“muggy; sticky, sweaty”)), from a blend of Vulgar Latin *mucidus (from Latin mūcidus (“mouldy, musty”), from Old Latin mūceō (“to be mouldy or musty”) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’, forming adjectives)) + Latin mustum (“unfermented or partially fermented grape juice, must; new wine”) (from mustus (“fresh; young; unfermented”), from Proto-Indo-European *mus-, *mews- (“damp; moss”)). * From another language derived from the above Latin words (compare the cognates below). * A variant of Middle English mosty, moisti (“damp, humid, wet, moisty; of fruit: moist and juicy”) [and other forms] (perhaps influenced by must (“fruit (usually grape) juice which has been or will be fermented”)), from moist, moiste (“damp, humid; moist, wet; well-irrigated, well-watered; liquid; of ale: new; (figuratively) not withered, fresh; carnal, lascivious; raw, undisciplined”) (from Old French moiste: see above) + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Compare Middle French moisi (“mouldy”), an adjective use of the past participle of moisir (“(to cause) to go mouldy, to moulder”) (modern French moisir), from Latin mūcēre, the present active infinitive of Old Latin mūceō (“to be mouldy or musty”): see above. The English word is analysable as must (“mould; mustiness”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives); however, must is thought to be a back-formation from musty. The noun and verb are derived from the adjective. Cognates * Catalan mústic, musti (“wilted, withered; gloomy, sad”) * Galician murcho, mucho (“wilted, withered”) * Old Occitan moste (Occitan moste, mosti, musti (“damp, wet”) (Gascon)) * Portuguese murcho (“wilted, withered; gloomy, sad”) * Spanish mustio (“wilted, withered; gloomy, sad”)
Etymology 2
From musth (“time during which male elephants exhibit increased levels of sexual activity and aggressiveness”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives).