stale
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- old, decayed, dry, flat, fusty, hard, musty, sour
- unoriginal, banal, hackneyed, overused, stereotyped, threadbare, trite, worn-out

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Antonyms: fresh
Related Words: dusty, fusty, dead

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

stale /steɪl/ adjective
[Date: 1200-1300; Origin: Probably from Old French estale 'standing still, settled', from estal 'standing place']

1. bread or cake that is stale is no longer fresh or good to eat Antonym : fresh:
French bread goes stale (=becomes stale) very quickly.
stale cake

2. air that is stale is not fresh or pleasant Antonym : fresh:
the smell of stale smoke

3. not interesting or exciting any more:
stale jokes
Other marriages might go stale, but not theirs.

4. if you get stale, you have no new ideas, interest, or energy, because you have been doing the same thing for too long:
If you stay in the job for more than ten years, you get stale.
He was becoming stale and running out of ideas.
—staleness noun [uncountable]

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

stale
adj.
VERBS be, look, smell, taste The room smelled musty and stale.
become, go, turn This bread's going stale.
ADV. extremely, very | a bit, a little, rather, slightly
PREP. with The atmosphere was stale with cigarette smoke.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲