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PlainSpell

stale

/steɪl/adjective, noun, verb

stale is spelled S-T-A-L-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, stale means “No longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds, etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in stale?

Letters5: S-T-A-L-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.7 times per million words; the 16,455th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is stale?

Stale appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce stale?

  • /steɪl/

Stale has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-stale.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with stale?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as stale.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: least, steal, tales, slate, tesla, lates, stela.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of stale

  • staler comparative
  • more stale comparative
  • stalest superlative
  • most stale superlative
  • stales plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • staling participle, present
  • staled participle, past
  • stele
  • steal
  • steel
  • stail

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does stale mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    No longer fresh, in reference to food, urine, straw, wounds, etc.

    Near-synonyms: gone bad, spoiled; see also Thesaurus:rotten

  2. 2

    No longer fresh, new, or interesting, in reference to ideas and immaterial things; clichéd, hackneyed, dated.

    Doist thou smyle to reade this stale and beggarlye stuffe.

  3. 3

    Not new or recent; having been in place or in effect for some time.

  4. 4

    Unreasonably long in coming, in reference to claims and actions.

    a stale affidavit

  5. 5

    Worn out, particularly due to age or over-exertion, in reference to athletes and animals in competition.

  6. 6

    Out of date, unpaid for an unreasonable amount of time, particularly in reference to checks.

  7. 7

    Of data: out of date; not synchronized with the newest copy.

    The bug was found to be caused by stale data in the cache.

  8. 8

    obsoleteNo longer nubile or suitable for marriage; past one's prime.

    Near-synonyms: over the hill; see also Thesaurus:elderly

  9. 9

    obsoleteAt a standstill; stalemated.

    Then drawith he & is stale.

noun

  1. 1

    colloquialSomething stale; a loaf of bread or the like that is no longer fresh.

  2. 2

    A long, thin handle (of rakes, axes, etc.)

  3. 3

    One of the posts or uprights of a ladder.

  4. 4

    One of the rungs on a ladder.

  5. 5

    obsoleteThe stem of a plant.

  6. 6

    The shaft of an arrow, spear, etc.

  7. 7

    obsoleteA fixed position, particularly a soldier's in a battle-line.

  8. 8

    A stalemate; a stalemated game.

  9. 9

    obsoleteAn ambush.

  10. 10

    obsoleteA band of armed men or hunters.

    The Lard of Drunlanrig lying al thys while in ambush...forbare to breake out to gyue anye charge vppon his enimies, doubting least the Earle of Lennox hadde kept a stale behynde.

  11. 11

    ScotlandobsoleteThe main force of an army.

  12. 12

    obsoleteUrine, especially used of horses and cattle.

  13. 13

    obsoleteA live bird to lure birds of prey or others of its kind into a trap.

  14. 14

    obsoleteAny lure, particularly in reference to people used as live bait.

    She ran in all the hast Vnbrased and vnlast... It was a stale to take the deuyll in a brake.

  15. 15

    obsoleteAn accomplice of a thief or criminal acting as bait.

  16. 16

    obsoletea partner whose beloved abandons or torments him in favor of another.

  17. 17

    obsoleteA patsy, a pawn, someone used under some false pretext to forward another's (usu. sinister) designs; a stalking horse.

    That of the two nominated, one should be an unfit Man, and as it were a Stale, to bring the Office to the other.

  18. 18

    obsoleteA prostitute of the lowest sort; any wanton woman.

  19. 19

    obsoleteAny decoy, either stuffed or manufactured.

verb

  1. 1

    To make stale; to cause to go out of fashion or currency; to diminish the novelty or interest of, particularly by excessive exposure or consumption.

  2. 2

    To become stale; to grow odious from excessive exposure or consumption.

  3. 3

    To become stale; to grow unpleasant from age.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo make stale; to age in order to clear and strengthen (a drink, especially beer).

  5. 5

    To stalemate.

    He shall stale þe black kyng in the pointe þer the crosse standith.

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo be stalemated.

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo make a ladder by joining rungs ("stales") between the posts.

  8. 8

    obsoleteTo urinate, especially used of horses and cattle.

    Gif ony stal in the yet of the gilde...he sall gif iiijd. to the mendis.

  9. 9

    obsoleterareTo serve as a decoy, to lure.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Stale in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchrassis, avarié (having lost its freshness), vieilli, périmé, caduc, suranné (no longer new or interesting)
Germanabgestanden, schal, altbacken, fade (having lost its freshness), veraltet, ausgelutscht (no longer new or interesting)
Portugueseparado, estagnado, rançoso, seco, velho (having lost its freshness), saturar (to diminish the interest of by excessive…)
Spanishrevenido, pasado, rancio, viciado, alaste, correoso (having lost its freshness)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does stale come from?

From Middle English stale, from Old French estal (“fixed position, place”), but probably originally from Proto-Germanic *stāną (“to stand”): compare West Flemish stel in the same sense for ‘beer’ and ‘urine’.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after stale