1
as in cliche
used or heard so often as to be dull
viewers were bored by the stale story lines of the new crop of sitcoms
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in boring
causing weariness, restlessness, or lack of interest
the sequel is basically a stale remake of the first movie
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stale
Plus, the restaurant category notoriously lacks brand loyalty — customers are just as happy to try out a competitor with a better deal or an enticing new menu option if their go-to restaurant’s options feel stale.
—
Jordan Valinsky, CNN, 7 Mar. 2025
Loafers With a Blazer Dress Loafers and suits are a match made in sartorial heaven—that’s a given—but if the business casual combo is starting to feel a bit stale, here’s a simple trick to try.
—Kelsey Stiegman, Glamour, 4 Mar. 2025
For Lisa Parry, a 12th grade teacher in South Dakota, the students' essays were getting stale.
—Kayla Jimenez, USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2025
Pockets of regular-season excellence and high-flying offenses have sustained his 15-year tenure, but Luka Garza and Keegan Murray aren’t walking back through that door, and the entire program feels stale.
—Brendan Marks, The Athletic, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stale
Jordan Valinsky, CNN, 7 Mar. 2025
Loafers With a Blazer Dress Loafers and suits are a match made in sartorial heaven—that’s a given—but if the business casual combo is starting to feel a bit stale, here’s a simple trick to try.
—Kelsey Stiegman, Glamour, 4 Mar. 2025
For Lisa Parry, a 12th grade teacher in South Dakota, the students' essays were getting stale.
—Kayla Jimenez, USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2025
Pockets of regular-season excellence and high-flying offenses have sustained his 15-year tenure, but Luka Garza and Keegan Murray aren’t walking back through that door, and the entire program feels stale.
—Brendan Marks, The Athletic, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stale
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stale
Adjective
-
Anything that isn’t someone bleeding out is boring to them, that kind of thing.—
Maria Fontoura,
Rolling Stone,
5 Apr. 2025
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Bring the shirt around your shoulders while adding extra color and dimension to your look—cold weather fits don’t have to be boring.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
3 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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At the time, Latinos were often cast in stereotyped roles with heavy accents and largely denied the opportunity to direct features.—
Maximilíano Durón,
ARTnews.com,
17 Mar. 2025
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Tragedies can be examined by those outside of its sphere of destruction, but the groundswell of feeling from Mexican viewers and critics is that there was little or no care taken to understand the cultural grief beyond stereotyped spectacle.—
Lucy Ford,
TIME,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were the only players to hit that mark at 28 years old.—
Bobby Krivitsky,
Forbes,
1 Mar. 2025
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In the Pig universe, which has now been running for two decades, George remains two years old and Peppa two years older.—
Caroline Frost,
Deadline,
1 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Here is a puzzle that should bring back memories for many solvers: settling down into a spacious middle seat, groping for seatbelts, suffering through the same tired safety notices.—
Sam Corbin,
New York Times,
1 Apr. 2025
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In their best offensive performance of the season against an admittedly tired and overmatched opponent, the Warriors had season highs in points and assists (42) and committed only 13 turnovers.—
Jerry McDonald,
Mercury News,
1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Of course, going from shows to pickleball classes to after-hours jam sessions at B.B. King’s Blues Club can be tiring.—
DeMarco Williams,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
-
Sanchez added a selfie from bed, sharing how tiring her pregnancy is.—
Charna Flam,
People.com,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The movie’s a little more hackneyed and obvious now, but its central idea is still an undeniably creepy one: possessed children with pitchforks.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
21 Feb. 2025
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Which is a nauseatingly hackneyed and clichéd — not to mention stupefyingly reductive — type of statement to make about any kind of art or entertainment, of course.—
Andrew Unterberger,
Billboard,
3 Sep. 2019
Adjective
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With businesses and consumers alike weary about the safety of AI moving forward, where does this leave them?—
Gary Drenik,
Forbes,
25 Mar. 2025
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The second, that it was named after a maiden who showed some weary legionnaires the way to the mountain spring.—
Tony Perrottet,
Smithsonian Magazine,
24 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The shark’s slow movement may have allowed the octopus to stay latched on, but if the mako had picked up speed, the octopus likely would have been forced off.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
1 Apr. 2025
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Relief agencies expect those numbers to rise sharply, since access is slow to remote areas where communications are down.—
David Rising,
Chicago Tribune,
31 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stale. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.
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