Synonym Chooser

How is the word fusty distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of fusty are fetid, malodorous, musty, noisome, putrid, rank, and stinking. While all these words mean "bad-smelling," fusty and musty suggest lack of fresh air and sunlight, fusty also implying prolonged uncleanliness, musty stressing the effects of dampness, mildew, or age.

a fusty attic
the musty odor of a damp cellar

When can malodorous be used instead of fusty?

While the synonyms malodorous and fusty are close in meaning, malodorous may range from the unpleasant to the strongly offensive.

malodorous fertilizers

Where would noisome be a reasonable alternative to fusty?

The meanings of noisome and fusty largely overlap; however, noisome adds a suggestion of being harmful or unwholesome as well as offensive.

a stagnant, noisome sewer

When is it sensible to use putrid instead of fusty?

The synonyms putrid and fusty are sometimes interchangeable, but putrid implies particularly the sickening odor of decaying organic matter.

the putrid smell of rotting fish

When would rank be a good substitute for fusty?

In some situations, the words rank and fusty are roughly equivalent. However, rank suggests a strong unpleasant smell.

rank cigar smoke

How are the words stinking and fetid related as synonyms of fusty?

Both stinking and fetid suggest the foul or disgusting.

prisoners were held in stinking cells
the fetid odor of skunk cabbage

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fusty The piece deepened the fault lines between Friedrich, the Romantic prince of sublimity and feeling, and the fusty rationalists who preceded him. Zachary Fine, The New Yorker, 28 June 2024 The deliciously macabre displays of taxidermy are a highlight, but the museum also manages to avoid feeling too fusty by bringing in contemporary artists to produce works in conversation with its collections, from Sterling Ruby to Jeff Koons. Elise Taylor, Vogue, 16 June 2024 Laugh-track shows were coming to seem not just condescending but also stiff and fusty. Jacob Stern, The Atlantic, 15 Apr. 2024 What this absolutism produced, of course, was not another fusty neo-Edwardian novel à la Orwell’s earlier Keep the Aspidistra Flying, but a wild, aggrieved tour de force of dystopian erotica. Stephen Metcalf, The Atlantic, 5 Apr. 2024 See All Example Sentences for fusty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fusty
Adjective
  • This is about a team with a top-10 payroll whose GM committed too stinking much of it to dogs that can’t, or won’t, pull the sled.
    Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 22 Dec. 2019
  • Muttaiah said the man inside the stinking manhole was working without any safety equipment — no gloves, no shoes, no supplemental oxygen.
    Joanna Slater, Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2019
Adjective
  • The fruit flavors are ripe and juicy, featuring strawberry, raspberry, and sometimes blackberry.
    Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025
  • Especially once Hasbro took over the game from Parker Brothers, Clue became a brand ripe for licensable extension.
    Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • These initiatives elicited predictable backlash from musty corners of the Internet, where it was said that D.E.I. radicals were promoting mediocrities and trashing the canon.
    Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
  • Other celebrities like Oprah, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Brooke Shields have also been reviving the sporty pants that have previously been reserved for workout classes and musty locker rooms.
    Alyssa Grabinski, People.com, 16 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Before Brummell, the aristocracy dressed in rich, smelly materials; after, styles were adapted from military uniforms—think of the broad shoulders of a British pinstripe suit, for example.
    Gary Shteyngart, The Atlantic, 7 Feb. 2025
  • There’s nothing worse than getting out into the wilderness, away from society, and then hearing somebody one campsite over start up a loud, smelly gas generator.
    Boone Ashworth, WIRED, 6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Public stations were expensive to maintain and quickly became dirty and malodorous.
    The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 22 Jan. 2025
  • Each lawyer, then, in his or her own way, played a part in creating a caricature: Danny, the kid in a tough situation trying his best to do the right thing; Mr. Neely, that malodorous man with schizophrenia stoking passengers’ fears on the subway.
    Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • And this particular mouthful may have been really foul.
    James Doubek, NPR, 29 Jan. 2025
  • Two-way player Drew Peterson later entered the mix after Porzingis picked up his fifth foul midway through the third quarter.
    Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 28 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • This was to help end the puppy mill industry, where dogs are bred en masse, leading them to be born and raised in filthy and neglected conditions.
    Andrew Sheeler, Sacramento Bee, 12 Feb. 2025
  • The boys all came home, filthy and with unbrushed teeth.
    Marla Jo Fisher, Orange County Register, 5 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • The most impressive aspect of Schlesinger’s film is its sense of place: the sunny, awesomely relaxed, fetid warmth captured by Conrad Hall’s sumptuous cinematography.
    Armond White, National Review, 31 Jan. 2025
  • Fascinating and fetid, the Salton Sea in southern California lures me back, every year.
    Dennis Hinkamp, The Denver Post, 5 Feb. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Fusty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fusty. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.

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