Musty in Scrabble and Meaning

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Valid words made from Musty

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5-letter words (1 found)

4-letter words (6 found)

3-letter words (9 found)

2-letter words (7 found)

You can make 23 words from musty according to the Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

Definitions and meaning of musty

musty

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌsti/
• Rhymes: -ʌsti

Etymology 1

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English musty; further origin uncertain, possibly from one of the following:

• From Anglo-Norman muste, moste, variants of moiste, muiste (“moist”), from Old French moiste (“clammy, damp, moist, wet”) (modern French moite (“muggy; sticky, sweaty”)), from a blend of Vulgar Latin *mucidus (from Latin mūcidus (“mouldy, musty”), from Old Latin mūceō (“to be mouldy or musty”) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’, forming adjectives)) + Latin mustum (“unfermented or partially fermented grape juice, must; new wine”) (from mustus (“fresh; young; unfermented”), from Proto-Indo-European *mus-, *mews- (“damp; moss”)).
• From another language derived from the above Latin words (compare the cognates below).
• A variant of Middle English mosty, moisti (“damp, humid, wet, moisty; of fruit: moist and juicy”) [and other forms] (perhaps influenced by must (“fruit (usually grape) juice which has been or will be fermented”)), from moist, moiste (“damp, humid; moist, wet; well-irrigated, well-watered; liquid; of ale: new; (figuratively) not withered, fresh; carnal, lascivious; raw, undisciplined”) (from Old French moiste: see above) + -i (suffix forming adjectives).

Compare Middle French moisi (“mouldy”), an adjective use of the past participle of moisir (“(to cause) to go mouldy, to moulder”) (modern French moisir), from Latin mūcēre, the present active infinitive of Old Latin mūceō (“to be mouldy or musty”): see above.

The English word is analysable as must (“mould; mustiness”) +‎ -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives); however, must is thought to be a back-formation from musty.

The noun and verb are derived from the adjective.

Adjective

musty (comparative mustier, superlative mustiest)

1. Affected by dampness or mould; damp, mildewed, mouldy.

   Synonym: fusty
2. Having an odour or taste of mould; also (generally), having a stale or unfresh odour or taste.

   Synonym: fusty

   musty food    musty furniture    a musty odour
3. Characteristic of or relating to mould or mouldiness.
4. (figuratively)
   1. Of attitudes, ideas, writing, or other abstract things: no longer fresh or interesting; outdated, stale.

      Synonym: outmoded
   2. Of a person: boring and unadventurous; also, old-fashioned, stuck in the past.

      Synonym: fogeyish
   3. (archaic except Northern England (northwest)) Bad-tempered, grumpy, irritable.

Derived terms

• must (“(noun) mould; mustiness; (verb) to become mouldy or musty”)
• mustied (adjective)
• mustily
• mustiness

Translations

Noun

musty (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) A type of snuff with a musty flavour (adjective sense 2).

Verb

musty (third-person singular simple present musties, present participle mustying, simple past and past participle mustied)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To turn musty (adjective sense 1 or 2); to must.

Conjugation

Etymology 2

From musth (“time during which male elephants exhibit increased levels of sexual activity and aggressiveness”) +‎ -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives).

Adjective

musty (comparative more musty, superlative most musty)

1. (rare) Of a male animal such as a camel or an elephant: in musth.

Alternative forms

• musthy

Translations

References

Further reading

• mold on Wikipedia.Wikipedia