stale

Like skinny jeans, they eventually became unavoidable — and thus a bit stale, giving way to looser fits and bulkier “dad” sneakers.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

She added: "The room itself was swarming with moth-type creatures and the smell of stale and animal excrement was overwhelming."

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

If I was consistently tapping into events of my own life, I feel like that well would run dry at some point, or start to feel stale or unspecific.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

He is about as entertaining as a stale powdered donut and even less nutritious.

From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026

She swept into our bedroom, bringing in a wave of cold air and the smell of stale smoke.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

The debate over whether pineapple belongs on pizza is staler than a three-day-old Domino’s slice.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 31, 2022

They're the perfect base for this croissant bread pudding and in fact, the staler, the better.

From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2022

“Under the Silver Lake” is rarely uninteresting, but it smells a little staler than it should.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2019

Don’t be fooled by the fancy packaging, though: Rarely in the history of Broadway has a bigger, staler nothingburger been served up than “Pretty Woman.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2018

The staler art of Oscar Wilde gives the individual of Mallock petrified into a rather unpleasant type.

From Unicorns by James Huneker

The stalest reality show becomes, in her telling, a Talmudic feat: “There is a tribunal of scholars who teaches them how to sing!” she tells Shulem breathlessly.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 14, 2019

It opens with a fresh angle on one of the stalest scenes in music history, when Bob Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2018

Luckily, so expert is Firth’s timing—like that of Emma Thompson, as Bridget’s obstetrician—that laughs, often of the rueful variety, can be conjured in the stalest scenes.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 16, 2016

When you compete in a multiplayer shooter and you are at a disadvantage until you unlock better weapons; that's the stalest of crust.

From The Verge ● Oct. 28, 2015

The Spayker, honest soul, finds they're quite beyond control, Discussion takes a most extinded radius, It's about as fine and clear as the stalest ginger-beer, But the "bhoys," they never seem to find it "tadyious."

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 93, August 13, 1887 by Sir F. C. (Francis Cowley) Burnand

Traditionally, sourdough or challah that has staled a bit is used for French toast.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2022

As it staled, I toasted pieces under the broiler and dipped these into runny egg yolks.

From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 2022

Hers features an any-nut frangipane you can slather onto staled panettone, croissants, brioche or even white bread and top with your choice of nuts and fruit.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 20, 2021

The clerk’s disinterest practically staled the air, their voice over the speaker the droning whine of a giant, bored nose.

From Slate ● May 29, 2018

If the Preacher really had staled Mr. Leroy’s money, seemed to me like he’d try to make hisself real hard.

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis

"The inclusion of legume flours slows staling associated with gluten-free breads due to the resistant starch content of legumes," said Lowe.

From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2022

Toasting had preserved the flavor, while staling had not.

From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2021

And from a wise Italian nonna, Antonietta Fazone, I learned that toasting bread, versus staling it on the counter overnight, it is preferable for preserving its flavor.

From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2021

The retrogradation of wheat starch in bread is responsible for staling.

From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2016

They show by degrees the gradual, and then the rapid, staling of Rosalie's fond sympathies.

From This Freedom by A. S. M. (Arthur Stuart-Menteth) Hutchinson