staling

adjective staler, stalest

1. having lost freshness; made musty, dry, bad, etc. by having been kept too long; specif.,
   1. flat; vapid; tasteless: stale beer
   2. hard and dry: said of bread, etc.
   3. low in oxygen content; stagnant: stale air
2. having lost originality or newness; lacking in interest through familiarity or overuse; hackneyed; trite: a stale joke, stale gossip
3. out of condition, ineffective, enervated, bored, etc. from either too much or too little activity
4. Law having lost legal force or effect through lack of use or action, as a claim or lien

Origin: ME, prob. via Anglo-Norm < OFr estale, quiet, stagnant < Gmc *stall: for IE base see still

transitive verb, intransitive verb staled, staling