How to Use musty in a Sentence

musty

adjective
  • Great for pet smells and musty spots.
    — Ashlyn Needham, The Spruce, 5 Feb. 2026
  • Frozen spinach can taste musty or too earthy.
    — Ann Taylor Pittman, Southern Living, 18 Oct. 2025
  • All his clothes were musty and damp the next day.
    — Maria Morava, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Aug. 2025
  • Avoid sprouts that are slimy or have a musty smell.
    — Ann Pietrangelo, Verywell Health, 27 Dec. 2025
  • Does that musty, mildewy smell seem to get worse on warm days?
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 30 June 2026
  • Is a musty smell always a sign of mold?
    — Ryan Brennan may 8, Kansas City Star, 8 May 2026
  • Any sourness of musty odor is a red flag.
    — Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 24 June 2026
  • There’s nothing musty about the play.
    — Brent Lang, Variety, 4 May 2026
  • Left uncleaned, these spots can make the whole room smell musty.
    — Marni Jameson, The Mercury News, 14 Nov. 2024
  • As the two men climbed down the steps, they were struck by the dank, musty air.
    — Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025
  • The musty, dusty smell of old books brings me back to those moments.
    — Hazlitt, 7 June 2023
  • The musty smell of grass, tinged with horse manure, hung in the air.
    — Ingfei Chen, The New Yorker, 29 May 2019
  • Not unless the potatoes taste like the back of a musty pantry.
    — Mike Sutter, San Antonio Express-News, 12 July 2018
  • The front door was open and a musty smell perfumed the sidewalk.
    — Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 15 Jan. 2023
  • The gallery smells musty and has begun to attract flies and ants.
    — Roberta Smith, Martha Schwendener, Jason Farago and Will Heinrich, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2017
  • The point is the paper, the poignantly musty smell of the past.
    — Jason Guriel, Longreads, 10 Nov. 2022
  • But that story was now a day old, a musty chyron at this point.
    — Mark Leibovich, New York Times, 23 May 2018
  • This keeps it cleaner longer and removes that musty smell.
    — Caroline Lubinsky, Martha Stewart, 15 June 2026
  • For a really musty porch, leave it overnight.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 4 Jan. 2026
  • Add half a cup to your rinse cycle for softer clothes and less musty smells.
    — Kait Hanson, Southern Living, 12 Apr. 2025
  • The nose shows nice, musty aromas with hazelnuts, pear and star fruit.
    — Tan Vinh and Owen Bargreen, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Dec. 2022
  • If the melon smells sour, musty, or funky, it's already gone bad.
    — Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 June 2026
  • Must And Mold Mold and mildew will make a home smell musty.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 20 June 2026
  • As anyone who has walked into a musty house knows, molds can emit a strong odor, too.
    — Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 18 May 2021
  • Beer and soda are two different kinds of musty sweet.
    — Matthew Shen Goodman, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
  • The small shack where Millay did much of her writing had a musty smell.
    — New York Times, 14 May 2018
  • If the items have been in storage for any length of time and have a musty odor, give them a quick wash.
    — Maria Sabella, The Spruce, 26 June 2026
  • If a car smells musty, that’s a likely sign it was exposed to water.
    — Ron Hurtibise, Sun-Sentinel.com, 6 Oct. 2017
  • If anything smells musty, toss it in the washing machine too.
    — Rabekah Henderson, Southern Living, 8 Feb. 2025
  • Keep reading to find out what's causing that musty smell in your closet.
    — Rabekah Henderson, Southern Living, 8 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'musty.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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