stale air
2
2.8
- noun
- /steɪl ɛr/
:
aire viciado
- The workhouse was crammed with workbenches and bodies and smelled of stale air and sweat.
- hot, stale air
- stale air in the room
- breathe in the stale air
Examples
-
The elevator door hissed open, letting in stale air.
Fiction book (1995) -
Sitting too close and breathing the same stale air.
Fiction book (2000) -
Immediately, she became aware of the stale air inside the plane, with its distinctive artificial smell.
Fiction book (1998) -
It was a relief for Mike to get away from the station's stale air and confined spaces.
Fiction book (2000) -
The old basement was filled with stale air that made it hard to breathe.
-
When the window was finally opened, the room filled with fresh air, replacing the stale air that had lingered too long.
-
As he entered the abandoned building, the smell of dust and stale air hit him immediately.
Synonyms
80
3.5
A very bad strong smell that makes you feel sick
2
3.4
A bad, stale smell from damp or old things
1
9.9
Stuffy, smoky air in a room that feels unpleasant to breathe
1
9.9
An unpleasant strong smell that comes from old or dirty things
1
3.2
A smell that stays for a long time
1
4.2
Air that smells stale and damp in a closed room
1
7.2
A stale, slightly moldy smell or taste in old damp things
1
3.9
Food, air, or other things that are no longer fresh and smell bad
1
4.1
Air in a room that feels heavy and not fresh
1
4.3
A strong unpleasant smell that makes people move away
A stale, musty smell from old wood or damp rooms
A stale, musty smell in a room or object
A bad, stale smell or taste on food and in rooms that shows rot
Warm air that feels unpleasant because it does not move and has little fresh air
Antonyms
How Fresh
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'air that is unpleasant because it is old, stagnant, or lacking in freshness' is directly and compositionally derived from 'stale' (not fresh) + 'air' (atmosphere). This straightforward adjective+noun combination is common cross-linguistically and follows expected English composition patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase stale air comes from the picture of air that has become stale, because it has not moved and feels 'old' and 'unpleasant'. When a room is closed and the air just sits there, it gets heavy and may smell bad, so stale air means 'air that is not fresh'.