Stale

Stale is an adjective used to describe things that have lost their freshness, vitality, or novelty. It is commonly applied to edible items, but can also refer to air, liquids, and nonmaterial things such as ideas or habits.

In food and drink, stale indicates that something is no longer fresh or palatable. Stale bread or crackers taste dry and hardened; stale coffee or beer may have lost aroma and become flat. Stale air or a stale smell refers to environments with poor circulation or odors that feel musty or disagreeable.

In data and technology, stale describes information or cached results that are out of date or no longer accurate. A stale cache entry, for example, may cause a system to serve outdated content unless refreshed.

Stale is also used figuratively to describe things that have become dull or unoriginal. A stale joke, a stale idea, or stale leadership implies a lack of novelty or vitality.

In chess, the correct term is stalemate, a situation in which one player has no legal move and the king is not in check. The form “stale mate” is a common nonstandard variant but is generally regarded as incorrect.

Etymology is not detailed here, but the word stems from older Germanic roots and has cognates in related languages, reflecting its long-standing use to describe things that have lost freshness or immediacy.

See also: fresh, musty, outdated, stagnant, stalemate.