mouldy

English

Alternative forms

• moldy (US)

Etymology

From mould +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoʊldi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

mouldy (comparative mouldier or more mouldy, superlative mouldiest or most mouldy)

1. Covered with mould.

   Synonym: rotten

2. Showing signs of neglect; disused.

   Synonyms: disused, neglected

3. (UK, colloquial) Worthless; lousy; rotten.
   • 2014, Patricia Combs, Café Paradise:

     'Go cuddle up to your mouldy old papers,' she shouted at him. 'See how warm they'll keep you.' She slammed the door and made to walk off.

4. (obsolete, slang, derogatory) Gray-headed, whether from age or hair powder.
   • 1820, Satirical and Political Pamphlets, page 27:

     Let him be great, as e'er he will, / He's rotten at the heart's core still; / Yet counsel from his mouldy pate, / Supports the trembling chair of state, / And scatters with unsparing hand, / A thousand miseries o'er the land; […]

Derived terms

• mouldily
• mouldiness

 

Related terms

• mould

Translations

covered with mould

• Bulgarian: плесенясал (bg) (plesenjasal)
• Chinese:

  Hokkien: 臭殕 (zh-min-nan), 生菇 (zh-min-nan), 上殕

  Mandarin: 發霉的 (zh) (fāméi de)

• Czech: plesnivý (cs) m
• Dutch: beschimmeld (nl)
• Esperanto: mucida (eo)
• Finnish: homeinen (fi)
• French: moisi (fr)
• Galician: balorento (gl) m
• Gallurese: muffìtu
• Georgian: ობიანი (obiani), დაობებული (daobebuli), ობმოკიდებული (obmoḳidebuli), ობით დაფარული (obit daparuli)
• German: schimmelig, verschimmelt (de)
• Hungarian: penészes (hu)
• Indonesian: apak (id), apek (id)
• Italian: ammuffito (it), mucido (it)
• Japanese: かびた (ja) (kabita)
• Kabuverdianu: boloradu, bloróde
• Korean: 곰팡이가 핀 (gompang'iga pin)
• Latin: mūcidus
• Maori: kāhekaheka, puruhekaheka, pūhekaheka, pōhekaheka, hekaheka, hōpurupuru, hakuhaku
• Old English: fyniġ, fyniht
• Plautdietsch: bepilzt, schemlich
• Polish: spleśniały m
• Portuguese: embolorado (pt), mofado (pt), bolorento (pt)
• Romanian: muced (ro)
• Russian: заплесневе́лый (ru) (zaplesnevélyj), заплесневе́вший (ru) (zaplesnevévšij)
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese: imbirdigadu

  Logudorese: murighinadu

• Sassarese: muffìtu, mugaratu
• Serbo-Croatian: pljesniv
• Spanish: mohoso (es)
• Swedish: möglig (sv)
• Turkish: küflü (tr)
• Vietnamese: mốc (vi), mốc meo (vi)
• Yiddish: פֿאַרשימלט (farshimlt)

neglected — see neglected

References

• (gray-headed): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary