stale
adjective/steɪl/
/steɪl/
- (of food, especially bread and cake) no longer fresh and therefore unpleasant to eat
- This bread's going stale.
- There was one piece of stale chocolate cake left in the tin.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- look
- seem
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- with
- (of air, smoke, etc.) no longer fresh; smelling unpleasant
- The atmosphere was stale with cigarette smoke.
- The room smelt of stale sweat.
- The room smelled musty and stale.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- look
- seem
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- with
- something that is stale has been said or done too many times before and is no longer interesting or exciting
- stale jokes
- Their marriage had gone stale.
Extra Examples- Of course I've heard. That's stale news.
- The routine of married life had gone stale on them.
- What had seemed fresh and exciting at first was now stale and predictable.
- What made the work so stale and uninteresting?
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- look
- seem
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- with
- a person who is stale has done the same thing for too long and so is unable to do it well or produce any new ideas
- After ten years in the job, she felt stale and needed a change.
- The cast is changed regularly to stop the actors from getting stale.
Word OriginMiddle English (describing beer in the sense ‘clear from long standing, strong’): probably from Anglo-Norman French and Old French, from estaler ‘to halt’; compare with the verb stall.
Check pronunciation:
stale