Adjective a room filled with stale smoke viewers were bored by the stale story lines of the new crop of sitcoms
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
If the audience can see what the pair are doing even when no film crew is present, why bother with the mockumentary gimmick, which is anyway an overused and stale idea? Kyle Smith, WSJ, 1 Sep. 2022 While onstage as part of his month-long stint at New York's Madison Square Garden, the 28-year-old star was accosted by a pair of stale chicken nuggets. Justine Browning, EW.com, 29 Aug. 2022 Consider adding a paper towel under the muffins and another lightly on top of the muffins to help absorb any moisture to help prevent the muffins from becoming stale quickly. Nik Pugmire, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Aug. 2022 But Zoom socials go stale, new employees don’t get a sense of people and culture and mentoring, and career development suffer. Robert Sher, Forbes, 21 June 2022 Once opened, dry pet food can go stale, even if stored in the reservoir of a feeder. Lindsay Pevny, Popular Mechanics, 19 May 2022 The hiring of Engram implies that Chryst knows his offense was getting stale and needs a shakeup. Doug Lesmerises, cleveland, 5 June 2022 With the release that year of his glossy Walking with a Panther album, his placate-everyone approach had finally begun to grow stale. Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 9 Sep. 2021 Now that Gen Z has all the attention, the internet quirks that Millennials have called their own for years can feel a bit stale, if not downright cringey. Kate Lindsay, The Atlantic, 6 Aug. 2022
Verb
Blinkie’s Donut Emporium, owned by a Cambodian American father-daughter duo, offers handmade donuts daily, always closing at noon so their selection never stales. Theo Stroomer, National Geographic, 5 June 2019 The product has staled compared to the previous standards. Mac Engel, star-telegram, 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, 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, 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, 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, 20 Jan. 2016
Verb
Blinkie’s Donut Emporium, owned by a Cambodian American father-daughter duo, offers handmade donuts daily, always closing at noon so their selection never stales. Theo Stroomer, National Geographic, 5 June 2019 The product has staled compared to the previous standards. Mac Engel, star-telegram, 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, 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, 22 Oct. 2017
Noun
Is the information being presented by the F.B.I. to the court stale? Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2022 But Vikings players and fans ask: How exactly will this 2022 outfit differ from its previous edition that some called stale and insufficiently aggressive? Jori Epstein, USA TODAY, 1 June 2022 That would be almond croissants, in which a nut paste is spread and baked into stale or day-old pastries.Washington Post, 20 Dec. 2021 Danielle escapes to the buffet to finger stale-looking pastries, sandwiches filled with mayonnaise-y salads, gloopy pasta. Jocelyn Silver, Vogue, 2 Apr. 2021 The first bite crunched into the burger’s onion rings and thick pretzel bun, which was a cut above Wendy’s usual signature, stale-to-the-touch buns. Phillip Valys, sun-sentinel.com, 10 Nov. 2020 As the supply of equities shrinks, developed nations from the U.S. to Japan are turning stale.Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2019 Did McCarthy’s offense get stale in Green Bay at the end?Dallas News, 14 Jan. 2020 This manner of breaking down the fourth wall feels stale from the start.New York Times, 14 Nov. 2019 See More
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
Middle English, settled, clear (of ale), not fresh, from Anglo-French estale, probably from Middle Dutch stel old (of beer)
Verb (2)
Middle English; akin to Middle Low German stallen to urinate, stal urine of horses