fusty

Etymology

From Old French fust (“wood”) (modern French fût (“cask”)), from Latin fūstis (“a cudgel”). Compare Scots foosty.

adj

1. Moldy or musty.
2. Stale-smelling or stuffy.
3. (figurative, by extension) Old-fashioned, refusing to change or update.
   In contrast to exploitation or suppression or even alienation, involution is presented as part of the natural order of things—like bad weather. You can’t point fingers at an abstraction or rally against a fusty term from an anthropology text. 2021-05-14, Yi-Ling Liu, “China’s “Involuted” Generation”, in The New Yorker
   An anonymously sourced report by one of Britain’s freewheeling tabloid newspapers has sparked a debate over both tabloid journalistic ethics and sexism in Parliament, leading some to question whether the institution is capable of shedding its fusty reputation and becoming an inclusive workplace. 2022-04-26, Stephen Castle, Megan Specia, “U.K. Tabloid Accuses Lawmaker of ‘Basic Instinct’ Move, Highlighting Sexism in Parliament”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   Oh sweet surprise - oh dear delight To find it undisputed quite - All musty, fusty rules despite, That Art is wrong and Nature right! 1893, W. S. Gilbert, Utopia, Limited, Act II
   The image which she had called up was too much for her nerves, and she fled incontinently. 1891, Bram Stoker, The Judge's House
4. (of wine) Tasting of the cask.
   Now consider what happens when that flavor is not fresh lemon but scorched garlic or some fusty wine. Unpleasant flavors are distributed at the same molecular level as good ones. 2015, Susan Volland, Mastering Sauces[…], W. W. Norton & Company
   Alison had a mouthful of warm, rather fusty wine and lay back on the grass, cupping the back of her head in her hand. 2018, Caroline Kington, A Tangled Summer, Eye & Lightning Books