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Synonyms

stale

1 American  
[steyl] / steɪl /

adjective

staler, stalest

  1. not fresh; vapid or flat, as beverages; dry or hardened, as bread.

    Synonyms:
    insipid, sour, tasteless, hard
    Antonyms:
    fresh

  2. musty; stagnant.

    stale air.

  3. having lost novelty or interest; hackneyed; trite.

    a stale joke.
    Synonyms:
    common, old, stereotyped, uninteresting

  4. having lost freshness, vigor, quick intelligence, initiative, or the like, as from overstrain, boredom, or surfeit.

    He had grown stale on the job and needed a long vacation.

  5. Law. having lost force or effectiveness through absence of action, as a claim.

verb (used with or without object)

staled, staling

  1. to make or become stale.

stale 2 American  
[steyl] / steɪl /

verb (used without object)

staled, staling

  1. (of livestock, especially horses) to urinate.

stale 1 British  
/ steɪl /

adjective

  1. (esp of food) hard, musty, or dry from being kept too long

  2. (of beer, etc) flat and tasteless from being kept open too long

  3. (of air) stagnant; foul

  4. uninteresting from overuse; hackneyed

    stale clichés

  5. no longer new

    stale news

  6. lacking in energy or ideas through overwork or lack of variety

  7. banking (of a cheque) not negotiable by a bank as a result of not having been presented within six months of being written

  8. law (of a claim, etc) having lost its effectiveness or force, as by failure to act or by the lapse of time

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to make or become stale

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
stale 2 British  
/ steɪl /

verb

  1. (intr) (of livestock) to urinate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the urine of horses or cattle

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • stalely adverb
  • staleness noun

Etymology

Origin of stale1

1250–1300; Middle English; akin to Middle Dutch stel in same sense; perhaps akin to stand or to stale 2

Origin of stale2

1400–50; late Middle English stalen to urinate; cognate with German stallen, Danish stalle, Norwegian, Swedish stalla

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

An editor who shall remain nameless told me today that no one seemed to care about the latest consumer price index print—that it was stale data in the wake of rising oil prices.

From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026

They aren’t just stale; to use Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy’s excellent new phrase, they’re as “dead as fried chicken.”

From MarketWatch • Mar. 11, 2026

It’s stale to nearly all but his biggest sycophants.

From Salon • Feb. 25, 2026

"She represents a kind of originality that could help revive that slightly stale franchise," says Burrell.

From BBC • Feb. 14, 2026

Nathan stepped into the hogan and immediately noticed how thick and stale the air inside was.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.