adjective
-
covered with or involving dust
-
like dust in appearance or colour
-
(of a colour) tinged with grey; pale
dusty pink
-
an unhelpful or bad-tempered reply
-
informal not too bad; fairly well: often in response to the greeting how are you?
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dusty
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at dust, -y 1
Explanation
When you call something dusty, it's either literally covered in dust or so old and unoriginal that it might as well be. You can use a feather duster to clean off dusty surfaces, but if something is a dusty color, that just means it's got a grayish tint to it, like dusty pink or dusty blue. If something has been around for a really long time and it's worn-out, stale, or unoriginal, you can also call it dusty. If you're a stand up comedian whose been working the same act for thirty years, chances are your jokes are getting a little dusty.
Vocabulary lists containing dusty
Two-Faced Words: Contronyms
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -y
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
One consisted of fragile, dusty material, while the other was made of sturdier clumps that formed very early in hotter regions before spreading throughout the disk.
From Science Daily • May 26, 2026
As dawn breaks, hundreds of men gather at a dusty square in Chaghcharan, the capital of Ghor province in Afghanistan.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
Seven months ago, former Energy Secretary Rick Perry described as genius an idea from Texas energy billionaire Toby Neugebauer to build the world’s largest data center on a dusty grazing lease near Amarillo.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026
Nearby, dusty sacks of potatoes are piled along the field edges, some loaded onto trucks, others left to sit for weeks, as farmers gamble on prices that rarely improve.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
I plopped down on the dusty trunk and watched them walk away, Aunt Kitty in her severe gray gown, Mrs. Maroney in her fashionable scarlet one with wide skirts billowing around her.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
