staleness
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stale 1
(stāl)adj. stal·er, stal·est
1. Having lost freshness, effervescence, or palatability: stale bread; stale air.
2. Lacking originality or spontaneity: a stale joke.
3. Ineffective or uninspired, usually from being out of practice or from having done the same thing for too long.
4. Law Legally unenforceable because of a claimant's delay in seeking enforcement.
tr. & intr.v. staled, stal·ing, stales
To make or become stale.
[Middle English, settled, clear (used of beer or wine), probably from Old French estale, slack, settled, clear, from estaler, to come to a standstill, halt, from estal, standing place, stand, of Germanic origin; see stel- in Indo-European roots.]
stale′ly adv.
stale′ness n.
stale 2
(stāl)intr.v. staled, stal·ing, stales
To urinate. Used especially of horses and camels.
n.
The urine of certain animals, especially horses and camels.
[Middle English stalen, possibly of Low German origin; akin to Middle Low German stallen.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Staleness
See Also: TIMELINESS/UNTIMELINESS
- As trite as the lyrics to a fifties hit —Hilma Wolitzer
In her novel, In the Palomar Arms, Wolitzer compares the triteness of old song lyrics to what happens to the words spoken by someone once loved passionately.
- Felt about as fresh as an old piece of chewing gum —Mike Fredman
- Flat and cold as the muffins of this morning’s breakfast —Henry James
In James’ play, Pyramus and Thisbe, this describes personality traits grown stale with overuse and familiarity.
- Flat as last night’s beer —Louis Untermeyer
- Stale as an old cigar —Wilfrid Sheed
- Stale as yesterday’s bread —Arthur A. Cohen
- (But it was all unmeaningful to us, and all the proverbs seemed stiff and) stale, like dusty labels on neglected antiquities —G. K. Chesterton
- Stale, like the butt of a dead cigar —Rudyard Kipling
- Tired as a much-told joke —Anon
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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| Noun | 1. |  staleness - unoriginality as a result of being dull and hackneyedunoriginality - uncreativeness due to a lack of originality camp - something that is considered amusing not because of its originality but because of its unoriginality; "the living room was pure camp" |
| 2. | staleness - having lost purity and freshness as a consequence of aging oldness - the opposite of youngness freshness - the property of being pure and fresh (as if newly made); not stale or deteriorated; "she loved the freshness of newly baked bread"; "the freshness of the air revived him" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
staleness
[ˈsteɪlnɪs] N1. (= lack of freshness) [of cheese, butter, sweat, cigarette smoke] → lo rancio; [of air] → lo viciado; [biscuit, beer] → lo pasado; [of cake] → sequedad f, lo seco; [of bread] → lo correoso; (= hardness) → dureza f
2. (fig) [of news, joke] → lo viejo; [of person, relationship] → estancamiento m, anquilosamiento m
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
staleness
n
(lit, of beer, water etc) → Schalheit f, → Abgestandenheit f; (of bread, biscuit) → Altbackenheit f; (of taste, smell) → Muffigkeit f; the staleness of the air made them sleepy → die verbrauchte Luft machte sie schläfrig
(fig, of joke) → Abgedroschenheit f; the staleness of the news → die veraltete Nachricht; he practised to the point of staleness → er übte, bis er langsam alles nur noch routinemäßig machte
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995