From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstalestale /steɪl/ ●●○ adjective 1 DECAYbread or cake that is stale is no longer fresh or good to eat OPP fresh French bread goes stale (=becomes stale) very quickly. stale cake2 SMELLair that is stale is not fresh or pleasant OPP fresh the smell of stale smoke3 INTERESTING#USE somethingnot interesting or exciting anymore stale jokes Other marriages might go stale, but not theirs.4 BORINGif you get stale, you have no new ideas, interest, or energy, because you have been doing the same thing for too long If you stay in the job for more than ten years, you get stale. He was becoming stale and running out of ideas. —staleness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
stale• My impression is their sites are kind of stale.• Put the biscuits back in the tin or they'll go stale.• stale advertising images• The air in the office was stale and heavy.• The money smelled stale, and humid.• Then, just as it seemed in danger of becoming stale and repetitive, it threw up De La Soul.• A stale breath came from him, sour, disordered, which was not only because he might have drunk too much.• All we got was a cup of tea and a bit of stale cake.• stale cookies• This bread's stale - have we got another loaf?• Sometimes scarred tissue feels tough, its resilience like a stale marshmallow.• All we hear around here is stale, old gossip.• Nicholson's routine was full of stale old jokes that we'd all heard before.• She noticed the stale smell of drink on his breath.• It was cold outside and the smell of stale tobacco clung to their winter coats.goes stale• Their French bread is really good but it goes stale very quickly.go stale• After two years, their marriage began to go stale.• I can feel myself going stale.• Rafiq says that storing hashish inside the skin of a freshly-slaughtered sheep is the only way to keep it from going stale.• Why, when we have made it, does it go stale?• You see, neither commodity could go stale.• Also popping up for a visit are Stephen and the twins' parents, whose marriage has gone stale over the decades.• Sandwiches and canapes go stale very quickly at a party.get stale• I suppose that a better expression would be to frankly admit I was getting stale.• They had beans, they said, because they didn't get stale and there wasn't much demand.• The wind blew so hard the bread got stale in our hands.• We get stale old nonsense like Office Gossip.• He was getting stale, wanted a new sphere of activity, was anxious to get away from London.Origin stale (1200-1300) Probably from Old French estale “standing still, settled”, from estal “standing place” 