frowsty

Adjective

frowsty (comparative frowstier, superlative frowstiest)

1. (UK, dialectal) Of an atmosphere: not fresh; close, musty, stuffy; of an object: having a musty, stale odour.
   • He thought of getting back by half-past twelve, / And tot of rum to send him warm to sleep / In draughty dug-out frowsty with the fumes / Of coke, and full of snoring, weary men.1917 May, Siegfried Sassoon, “A Working Party”, in The Old Huntsman and Other Poems, London: William Heinemann, published January 1918, →OCLC, stanza 6, page 29
   • [T]he London theatres themselves, nearly all of them, the meanest, dirtiest, dingiest, fustiest, frowstiest edifices in the country.1921, W[alter] L[ionel] George, “Playgrounds”, in A London Mosaic, New York, N.Y.: Frederick A[bbott] Stokes Company, →OCLC, pages 15–16

   Synonyms:

   frowsy, frowzy, fusty

2. (UK, dialectal) Of a person: dull, slow; also, unkempt, untidy.
   • A window opened above the shop, and a frowsty-looking man, yellow-pale, was quickly and nervously hauling in the national flag. There were shouts of derision and mockery—a great overtone of acrid derision—the flag and its owner ignominiously disappeared.1918–1921 (date written), D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “XX Settembre”, in Aaron’s Rod, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, published April 1922, →OCLC, page 215
   • Man, he says, was still "frowsty-minded" and "half asleep" in the early twenty-first century, still in urgent danger of a relapse into the confused nightmare living of the Age of Frustration.1933 September, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “The Text Resumes: The Tyranny of the Second Council”, in The Shape of Things to Come, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC...

   Synonyms:

   frowsy, frowzy