fusty and musty suggest lack of fresh air and sunlight, fusty also implying prolonged uncleanliness, musty stressing the effects of dampness, mildew, or age.
a fusty attic
the musty odor of a damp cellar
Example Sentences
a fetid pool of water the fetid odor of rotting vegetables
Recent Examples on the WebThat stench of old seafood or the fetid smell of rotting meat are foul, to be sure. Rita Pelczar, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Aug. 2022 There is little movement here in the fetid atmosphere that drifts between convalescence and hospice. Ron Charles, Washington Post, 12 July 2022 People who made it out of the plant recounted surviving the siege in a fetid bunker without sunlight, as food and water supplies dwindled. Andrew Jeong, Washington Post, 18 May 2022 Last week, a fetid stench emanated from drainage areas beneath multiple buildings.Los Angeles Times, 21 Apr. 2022 Shabir held his documents tight and waded into the fetid water at the bottom of the ditch. Mirzahussain Sadid, ProPublica, 5 Apr. 2022 Its application, prepared by the engineering firm Geosyntec Consultants, frames the project as the last and best hope for rescuing the lake after decades of neglect and misuse as a bottomless receptacle for fetid effluents and invasive fish. Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune, 2 Feb. 2022 As recently as the 1890s, the nine-mile barrier island now known as Miami Beach was little more than a fetid tangle of swampland, dominated by the remains of a handful of old coconut and avocado plantations. Matthew Shaer, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2022 Political fury that has raged through the fight against Covid-19 has meanwhile brewed a fetid political mood hardly conducive to magnanimous hearings. Stephen Collinson, CNN, 27 Jan. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Latin foetidus, from foetēre to stink