busted
Americanadjective
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broken, fractured, or seriously damaged.
a busted leg.
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no longer working or operating.
a busted radio.
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penniless or bankrupt; broke.
busted businesses that can’t pay their bills.
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I never talk about my busted marriages.
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in trouble; caught doing something bad or wrong.
I know that’s a lie—you are so busted!
adjective
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.
Hardened globs of crude cling to fishing nets pulled from the lake, and natural gas gurgles up from busted underwater pipelines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
In that scenario, it would be busted down one or more divisions and forced to work its way back up over the course of several seasons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Retrieving busted bots on stretchers, one of the Humanoid Games’ best visual gags, may actually have originated with her league.
From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026
Newly appointed BBC chief Matt Brittin recently described the licence fee as a "busted flush"
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
He didn’t care if he was busted if they caught him; he was on a mission.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
