stale
adjective
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Definition of stale
(Entry 1 of 4)
stale
verb (1)Definition of stale (Entry 2 of 4)
stale
verb (2)Definition of stale (Entry 3 of 4)
stale
nounDefinition of stale (Entry 4 of 4)
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Other Words from stale
Adjective
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adverb
Synonyms & Antonyms for stale
Synonyms: Adjective
banal, cliché (also cliche), clichéd, cobwebby, commonplace, hack, hackney, hackneyed, moth-eaten, musty, obligatory, shopworn, stereotyped, threadbare, timeworn, tired, trite, well-worn
Antonyms: Adjective
fresh, new, novel, original, unclichéd, unhackneyed
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Examples of stale in a Sentence
Adjective
a room filled with stale smoke viewers were bored by the stale story lines of the new crop of sitcomsRecent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Interminable schleps, stale $18 sandwiches and seating that makes the cabin on Air Torquemada feel relatively comfy seem to be the norm. — Matthew Kronsberg, WSJ, "New Airport Terminals Where Killing Time Has Its Perks," 30 Apr. 2019 Not every journalist must choose between the view-from-nowhere voice of the objective journalist and stale aphorisms of major newspaper editorial pages. — David Roberts, Vox, "My advice for aspiring explainer journalists," 9 Dec. 2018 Forget the stale cheese, wine, and chocolate Advent calendars of your childhood. — Harper's Bazaar Staff, Harper's BAZAAR, "13 Christmas Movies You Can Watch on Netflix Right Now," 30 Nov. 2018 Tear stale slices into chunks and toss with dressing. — Kate Merker, Country Living, "Cider-Braised Chicken-and-Fennel Panzanella," 21 Sep. 2018 The feeling of this team was that tiki-taka has turned stale without the truly special talents that marked the team in 2010. — Grant Wahl, SI.com, "Spain Always Looked Out of Sorts at This World Cup," 1 July 2018 When running starts to feel stale, a floodgate opens to a million other complaints. — Alli Harvey, Anchorage Daily News, "When running gets monotonous, change the scenery or the soundtrack," 21 June 2018 Let’s rebirth the stale parts of our lives and implement a fresh start. — Teen Vogue, "This Week's Horoscopes: March 31 - April 6," 1 Apr. 2019 But a sealed building can create stale air, humidity and mold issues, hence the need for an energy recovery system. — Christopher Mims, WSJ, "Why Your Next Home Might Not Need Any Energy at All," 22 Dec. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The product has staled compared to the previous standards. — Mac Engel, star-telegram, "It’s not a pretty picture inside Southlake Carroll’s football program," 27 Jan. 2018 Set collection is a particularly satisfying mechanism but one that stales easily; Fabled Fruit tweaks the formula in every game to bypass that problem. — Nate Anderson, Ars Technica, "The best board games we played at PAX Unplugged," 24 Nov. 2017 Petty theft, Clifton Boulevard: Police were called to CVS Pharmacy about 2 a.m. Oct. 12 on a report of a man staling body wash items and leaving in a car. — Bruce Geiselman, cleveland.com, "Lakewood police respond to burglary, car theft complaints: police blotter," 22 Oct. 2017 While the bread is staling, combine blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, sugar and lemon juice in a large saucepan over low heat. — Robin Mather, Detroit Free Press, "Icebox desserts worth the chill," 8 July 2017 Time may have withered her, to misquote Shakespeare, but custom will never stale this mother’s infinite, and exasperating, variety. — Ben Brantley, New York Times, "Review: ‘Our Mother’s Brief Affair,’ a Play About Unmoored Lives," 20 Jan. 2016Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The product has staled compared to the previous standards. — Mac Engel, star-telegram, "It’s not a pretty picture inside Southlake Carroll’s football program," 27 Jan. 2018 Set collection is a particularly satisfying mechanism but one that stales easily; Fabled Fruit tweaks the formula in every game to bypass that problem. — Nate Anderson, Ars Technica, "The best board games we played at PAX Unplugged," 24 Nov. 2017 Petty theft, Clifton Boulevard: Police were called to CVS Pharmacy about 2 a.m. Oct. 12 on a report of a man staling body wash items and leaving in a car. — Bruce Geiselman, cleveland.com, "Lakewood police respond to burglary, car theft complaints: police blotter," 22 Oct. 2017Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
The sage smudge stick is sitting stale in a drawer. — Anne-marie Yerks, House Beautiful, "My House Was Hiding a Tragic Secret — And I Needed to Know the Truth," 15 Oct. 2015 Democrats, meanwhile, say there has been no fresh outreach to them after talks about attaching something to the government spending package stale mated. — Tal Kopan, CNN, "White House seeks to rekindle immigration debate on Hill," 10 Apr. 2018 And while many have written it off as a stale, co-opted opponent with little relevance to national political developments, the last month has shown that the situation is not so simple. — Sofia Fenner, Washington Post, "Why Egypt's oldest political party isn't challenging President al-Sissi," 7 Feb. 2018 New Orleans School of Cooking's King Cake Bread Pudding Serves 10 to 12 1 traditional king cake, stale, cut in 1-inch cubes Equal amount of French bread, cut in 1-inch cubes. — Ann Maloney, NOLA.com, "King cake leftovers? Make bread pudding, trifle and cake pops," 6 Feb. 2018 But keeping the festival world-class and fresh, year after year, is a challenge, and some critics have warned that Lincoln Center’s was growing stale. — Michael Cooper, New York Times, "Tastemaker Wanted: Lincoln Center Festival Director to Step Down," 28 June 2017 Blackhawks looking stale: Has this group run out of magic? — Kevin Allen, USA TODAY, "Six first-round NHL playoff surprises: Maple Leafs are closer than we thought," 25 Apr. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stale.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for stale
stale
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of stale
See the full definition for stale in the English Language Learners Dictionary
stale
adjective
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Kids Definition of stale
stale
adjectiveLegal Definition of stale
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