adjective, British, impaired by age or dampness, moldy, saturated with dust and stay odors, musty, rigidly old-fashioned or reactionary
Since the renovations, the once fusty library is now airy and well lit.
"Fusty" probably derives from the Middle English word foist, meaning "wine cask," which, in turn, traces to the Medieval Latin word rustic, meaning "tree trunk" or "wood." So how did "fusty" end up meaning old-fashioned"? Originally, it described wine that had gone stale from sitting in the cask for too long; "fusty" literally meant that the wine had the "last of the cask." Eventually, any stale food, especially damp or moldy food, was called "fusty." Those damp and old connotations were later applied to musty places, and later still to anything that had lost its freshness and interest--that is, to anything old-fashioned.
hugs always
karen charlie and enzo
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