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Synonyms

busted

American  
[buhs-tid] / ˈbʌs tɪd /

adjective

  1. broken, fractured, or seriously damaged.

    a busted leg.

  2. no longer working or operating.

    a busted radio.

  3. penniless or bankrupt; broke.

    busted businesses that can’t pay their bills.

  4. failed.

    I never talk about my busted marriages.

  5. in trouble; caught doing something bad or wrong.

    I know that’s a lie—you are so busted!
busted British  
/ ˈbʌstəd /

adjective

  1. informal caught out doing something wrong and therefore in trouble

    you are so busted
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of busted

First recorded in 1835–40; bust 2 ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Here are a couple of myths the experts busted.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

An orange car pulled into the parking lot, with a busted taillight, and a few members of the group got up and hobbled over.

From Slate • Mar. 25, 2026

"But that doctor in there to him was very funny because it gave it this air of authority that he thought that he clearly did not have - especially because he was busted at Oxford."

From BBC • Mar. 2, 2026

When he busted out the Klaebo stride for the first time at the Olympics, social media blew up at the sight of this Norwegian man sprinting uphill.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026

The hollow wooden sound like to busted Pink and Lee Roy clear out of the hay.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.