lackluster vs stale

lackluster

adj
  • Lacking brilliance or intelligence. 

  • Having no shine or lustre; dull. 

  • Not exceptional; not worthy of special merit, attention, or interest; having no vitality. 

noun
  • Lack of brightness or points of interest. 

  • A person or thing of no particular brilliance or intelligence. 

stale

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

  • Out of date, unpaid for an unreasonable amount of time, particularly in reference to checks. 

  • Of data: out of date; not synchronized with the newest copy. 

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

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

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

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

noun
  • A stalemate; a stalemated game. 

  • One of the rungs on a ladder. 

  • The shaft of an arrow, spear, etc. 

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

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

  • One of the posts or uprights of a ladder. 

verb
  • 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. 

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

  • To stalemate. 

  • To become stale; to grow unpleasant from age. 

How often have the words lackluster and stale occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )