mustiness

/-tēnə̇s/ (ame, mw)

mustiness — noun

1. the unpleasant damp, stale smell or taste that things get when they have been ke

1.名詞C1
釋義

the unpleasant damp, stale smell or taste that things get when they have been kept too long in a closed, wet, or unaired place — for example, old books in a basement, blankets left in a wardrobe, or a cellar that nobody opens.

例句

Cyrus opened the old suitcase and a strong mustiness hit his nose.

uncountable noun with no article in basic existential frame

The mustiness in Grandma's attic came from boxes of damp newspapers stored for decades.

mustiness + in [place] for locating the smell

同義詞
  • staleness

    broader — covers air, food, ideas; 'mustiness' is specifically damp-stale

  • fustiness

    very close synonym; slightly more old-fashioned word for the same damp-shut-up smell

  • dankness

    emphasises the cold-and-wet feeling more than the smell itself

反義詞
  • freshness

    the clean, aired-out quality of newly opened or recently cleaned air or food

用法筆記

Almost always uncountable and used with 'the' or 'a' + adjective ('a faint mustiness', 'a strong mustiness'). Subject is usually a place (attic, cellar, room) or a stored item (books, clothes, bread). The smell is unpleasant by default — don't pair with positive adjectives.

常見錯誤

❌I love the mustiness of fresh bread.
✅I love the warm smell of fresh bread.
💡mustiness is always unpleasant; use it only for damp, stale, off smells.
❌There were many mustinesses in the old house.
✅There was a lot of mustiness in the old house.
💡uncountable, no plural, no 'a' without an adjective.