stale

• annoying
• arid
• aseptic
• banal
• barren
• blah
• blank
• boring
• bothersome
• bromidic
• canned
• cardboard
• cliche
• cobwebby
• colorless
• common
• commonplace
• conventional
• cookie-cutter
• cumbersome
• debilitating
• demoralizing
• derivative
• discouraging
• disheartening
• dispiriting
• drab
• draining
• dreary
• drudging
• dry
• dull
• dullish
• dusty
• earthbound
• enervating
• enfeebling
• exhausting
• fatiguing
• flat
• gray
• grey
• hack
• hackney
• hackneyed
• heavy
• ho-hum
• humdrum
• imitative
• inanimate
• irksome
• irritating
• jading
• jejune
• leaden
• longsome
• lumbering
• mind-numbing
• monochromatic
• monotonous
• moth-eaten
• musty
• normal
• numbing
• obligatory
• old
• old hat
• old-fashioned
• ordinary
• pallid
• palling
• pedantic
• pedestrian
• platitudinal
• platitudinous
• pleasureless
• plodding
• pokey
• poky
• ponderous
• prosaic
• prosy
• ready-made
• rote
• routine
• shopworn
• slow
• soggy
• spiritless
• standard
• stereotyped
• sterile
• stock
• stodgy
• stuffy
• stupid
• suspenseless
• tame
• tedious
• tepid
• threadbare
• timeworn
• tired
• tiresome
• tiring
• tried-and-true
• trite
• twice-told
• typical
• undramatic
• uneventful
• unexceptional
• unexciting
• unimaginative
• uninspired
• uninspiring
• uninteresting
• unnewsworthy
• unoriginal
• unrewarding
• unsensational
• unspectacular
• unsurprising
• usual
• vapid
• wearing
• wearisome
• weary
• wearying
• well-worn

• absorbing
• alluring
• amazing
• amusing
• animating
• arresting
• astonishing
• astounding
• attracting
• attractive
• atypical
• awesome
• beguiling
• bewitching
• breathtaking
• captivating
• charming
• diverting
• electrifying
• enchanting
• energizing
• engaging
• engrossing
• enlivening
• entertaining
• enthralling
• entrancing
• exciting
• exhilarating
• extraordinary
• eye-opening
• fabulous
• fascinating
• fresh
• galvanizing
• gripping
• hair-raising
• inspiring
• interesting
• intriguing
• invigorating
• involving
• marvellous
• marvelous
• mesmerizing
• moving
• new
• novel
• original
• pathbreaking
• pioneering
• poignant
• provocative
• rip-roaring
• riveting
• rousing
• sensational
• spectacular
• spellbinding
• stimulating
• stirring
• strange
• surprising
• suspenseful
• tantalizing
• thrilling
• touching
• trailblazing
• unaccustomed
• uncommon
• unfamiliar
• unhackneyed
• unheard-of
• unknown
• unprecedented
• unusual
• wonderful
• wondrous

• noun
  1. Something stale; a loaf of bread or the like that is no longer fresh.
  2. A long, thin handle (of rakes, axes, etc.).
  3. The posts and rungs composing a ladder.
  4. The stem of a plant.
  5. The shaft of an arrow, spear, etc.
  6. A fixed position, particularly a soldier's in a battle-line.
  7. A stalemate; a stalemated game.
  8. An ambush.
  9. A band of armed men or hunters.
  10. The main force of an army.
  11. (livestock) Urine, especially used of horses and cattle.
  12. A live bird to lure birds of prey or others of its kind into a trap.
  13. Any lure, particularly in reference to people used as live bait.
  14. An accomplice of a thief or criminal acting as bait.
  15. A partner whose beloved abandons or torments him in favor of another.
  16. A patsy, a pawn, someone used under some false pretext to forward another's (usu. sinister) designs; a stalking horse.
  17. A prostitute of the lowest sort; any wanton woman.
  18. Any decoy, either stuffed or manufactured.
• verb
  1. (of alcohol) To make stale; to age in order to clear and strengthen (a drink, especially beer).
  2. To make stale; to cause to go out of fashion or currency; to diminish the novelty or interest of, particularly by excessive exposure or consumption.
  3. To become stale; to grow odious from excessive exposure or consumption.
  4. (alcohol) To become stale; to grow unpleasant from age.To make a ladder by joining rungs ("stales") between the posts.
  5. To stalemate.
  6. To be stalemated.
  7. (livestock) To urinate, especially used of horses and cattle.
  8. To serve as a decoy, to lure.
• adjective
  1. (alcohol) Clear, free of dregs and lees; old and strong.
  2. No longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds, etc.
  3. No longer fresh, new, or interesting, in reference to ideas and immaterial things; cliche, hackneyed, dated.
  4. No longer nubile or suitable for marriage, in reference to people; past one's prime.
  5. Fallow, in reference to land.
  6. Unreasonably long in coming, in reference to claims and actions.
  7. Taking a long time to change.
  8. Worn out, particularly due to age or over-exertion, in reference to athletes and animals in competition.
  9. Out of date, unpaid for an unreasonable amount of time, particularly in reference to checks.
  10. Of data: out of date; not synchronized with the newest copy.
  11. At a standstill; stalemated.

• The bread was already stale after just two days on the counter.
• His jokes have become stale from being repeated too often.
• She threw away the stale crackers no one wanted to eat.
• The air in the abandoned house was thick and stale.
• The movie felt stale, like a copy of better films from the past.

hack

hackney

hackneyed

jading

namby-pamby

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