The most popular online dictionary and thesaurus for learners of English
stale
adjective /steɪl/Definition
C1 no longer new or fresh, usually as a result of being kept for too long: The bread/biscuits/cake had gone stale. The morning after the party, their apartment smelled of stale cigarette smoke.Not pleasant to eat or drink › not fresh and new; boring because too familiar: stale jokes/newsTedious and uninspiring › describes someone who has lost interest in what they are doing because they are bored or are working too hard: They had been working together for over five years and they had both become a little stale.Plain and ordinaryTedious and uninspiringTedious and uninspiring staleness
/ˈsteɪl.nəs/ noun [U] Not pleasant to eat or drink
(Definition of stale adjective from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
Focus on the pronunciation of stale
Browse the Dictionary
Browse the Thesaurus
SMART Thesaurus: Tedious and uninspiring
Synonyms and related words:
- anonymous adjective
- banal adjective
- be (as) dull as ditchwater idiom
- bland adjective
- boring adjective
- colourless adjective (BORING)
- desiccated adjective
- earthbound adjective
- leaden adjective (WITHOUT ENERGY)
- menial adjective
- middle-aged adjective
- mind-numbing adjective
- monochrome adjective (BORING)
- monotonous adjective
- pallid adjective
- spinach adjective
- staid adjective
- stodgy adjective (BORING)
- tedious adjective
- threadbare adjective (WEAK)
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Word of the Day
Blog
Read our blog about how the English language behaves.
New Words
Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.
