Fusty
/ˈfʌsti/noun
Having a stale, moldy, or stuffy smell; also old-fashioned or dull.
Did you know?The word likely grew out of an old sense of *fust* meaning the stale, moldy smell of casks, linking it to the idea of wine or grain going bad in storage.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*peu̯-
“to rot, decay, or become foul”
Latin
Latin
putēre
“to stink, be rotten”
Old French
Old French
fust
“stave of a cask; later a stale or moldy smell”
Middle English
English
fusty
“having a moldy, stale smell; musty”
Modern English
English
fusty
“stale-smelling, stuffy, or old-fashioned”