Foosty

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having a stale, musty, or unpleasantly stuffy atmosphere ; appearing or behaving in a way that is quaintly old or obsolete
2. Smelling stagnant and fusty like an enclosed space ; seeming antiquated or behind the times in style or attitude
3. Characterized by stale air and mustiness ; marked by an archaic or dated quality that seems stuck in the past

Etymology: A wooden cask gave this word its original sense. It comes from Old French "fuste," meaning a wooden barrel or staff, which in turn descends from Latin "fustis," a cudgel or stick. Casks were often made of timber, and the sour, damp smell of old wood and stale liquid in them became the first meaning of the adjective: mustiness, or the stale odour of something kept too long in a closed space. Over time the meaning moved from smell to character. A "fusty" room was one that smelled shut-up and stale, and the word then extended to people and ideas, describing someone or something that seemed outdated, dull, or stuck in old ways. That shift from a physical odour to a judgment about attitudes is why the word now often sounds more like criticism of a person's manner than of a room's air.