Definition of “stale” - English Dictionary

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“stale” in English

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staleadjective

uk ​ /steɪl/ us ​ /steɪl/

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 fresh and new; boring because too familiar:

stale jokes/news

› used to describe someone who has lost interest in what they are doing because of being bored or working too hard:

They had been working together for over five years and they had both become a little stale.

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Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

staleness
noun [ U ] uk ​ /ˈsteɪl.nəs/ us ​ /ˈsteɪl.nəs/

(Definition of “stale” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

“stale” in American English

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staleadjective [ -er/-est only ]

us ​ /steɪl/

› not fresh or new:

stale bread
Stale air smells very bad.
I used to like that sitcom, but it’s getting kind of stale.

(Definition of “stale” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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