Synonyms for stale
- adjective
- noun
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Hackneyed — no longer fresh, new, or interesting, in reference to ideas and immaterial things; clichéd, hackneyed, dated
hackneyed, trite, threadbare, banal, tired, commonplace, well-worn, time-worn, insipid, tasteless, unoriginal, vapid, corny, overused, flat, common, mawkish, warmed-over, played out, unsavory US, unsavoury UK, shop-worn, stock
2. Musty — no longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds, etc
musty, moldy US, mouldy UK, bad, rotten, fusty, spoiled, rancid, gone bad, sour, tainted, rank, fetid, malodorous
3. Faded — worn out, particularly due to age or over-exertion, in reference to athletes and animals in competition
faded, shabby, decrepit, dilapidated, worn, passe, effete dated, clapped out slang UK AU NZ
4. Moss-grown — not new or recent; having been in place or in effect for some time
old, moss-grown, venerable, antediluvian, eldern, antiquated
Other
Noun
Definitions
- adj. 1
No longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds, etc.
Near-synonyms: gone bad, spoiled; see also Thesaurus:rotten
- adj. 2
No longer fresh, new, or interesting, in reference to ideas and immaterial things; clichéd, hackneyed, dated.
Doist thou smyle to reade this stale and beggarlye stuffe.
- adj. 3
Not new or recent; having been in place or in effect for some time.
- n. 1
Something stale; a loaf of bread or the like that is no longer fresh.
Forms
- Plural
- stales → urines, handles, stems, hefts…
Example sentences
- banal When it rains, you get wet. This is a banal truth.
- trite The "twin tiger cubs get separated ..." story felt a bit trite.
- threadbare The towels seem new enough, if slightly threadbare.
- hackneyed A bad writer's prose is full of hackneyed phrases.
- musty The table in the musty room was covered with dust.
- fusty Steve is a fusty old man who won't listen to music made after 1975.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| stale | rising | |
| banal | rising | |
| trite | steady | |
| threadbare | rising | |
| hackneyed | steady | |
| musty | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- old1, bad1
- 4 letters
- cold1, flat1, rank1, worn1, stem1, sour2, heft1
- 5 letters
- stock1, tired2, shaft1, urine2, faded2, dusty2, corny2, banal2, trite1, musty2, moldy2, vapid2, passe2, fetid2
- 6 letters
- common2, handle2, rotten2, shabby2, rancid2, mouldy2, effete2, sneath1, eldern
- 7 letters
- spoiled1, tainted2, insipid3, mawkish2
- 8 letters
- stagnant2, overused3, decrepit3, unsavory4, matronly3
- 9 letters
- venerable4, tasteless2, hackneyed2, unsavoury
- 10 letters
- antiquated4, unoriginal, threadbare2, malodorous
- 11 letters
- commonplace3, dilapidated5
- 12 letters
- antediluvian
- 13 letters
- superannuated
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (sour2 = 2 syllables).