frowsty
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.
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.
Where it comes from
Origin unknown; possibly a variant of frowsy (frousy, frouzy, frowzy), etymology also unknown; and possibly related to Old French frouste (“decayed, in a state of ruin”). Compare also froughy, frow.
Adapted from the Wiktionary entry frowsty (CC BY-SA 4.0).