adjective
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having or characterized by a crust, esp having a thick crust
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having a rude or harsh character or exterior; surly; curt
a crusty remark
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of crusty
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at crust, -y 1
Explanation
The adjective crusty is good for describing something that is crisp on the outside, like a loaf of French bread. You can describe something with a crunchy outer layer and a softer inside as crusty, but you can also use the word to mean "crabby" or "ill-tempered." Your mean old neighbor who yells at kids to get off his lawn is crusty, for example. While the literal meaning is older, this "cranky or surly" meaning has been around since the 1500s. The root of both is the Latin crusta, "rind, crust, shell or bark."
Vocabulary lists containing crusty
Out of the Dust
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The Secret Garden
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When I Was the Greatest
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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.
See Examples For:
And sometimes — the true jackpot — there’s a crusty half-loaf of sourdough, which instantly checks off one of my weekly anchor ingredients for just a few dollars.
From Salon ● May 22, 2026
Contrary to the crusty, chaotic libertinism of their shows, the band is disarmingly sweet and funny in person despite being duly crude.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2026
“Before the week is out, it’s going to get very, very crusty around here.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
Similar to onions and a hollowed loaf of crusty bread, you most definitely can stuff a tomato.
From Salon ● Apr. 6, 2026
They had more ducks than anything else, and their most exotic showing was a crusty old pony that had recently celebrated its fortieth birthday.
From "George" by Alex Gino
For a crustier roll, choose a lean dough.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2021
The result is something vaguely like a seasoned fry, but a bit crustier and cakier, with a taste of dried onion and black pepper.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2019
Harrison Ford, coming next, was even crustier than usual.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 7, 2019
Cruz, who is only two years older than O’Rourke but comes across as part of a previous crustier generation, is following the conventional campaign playbook: pumping big money into negative ads attacking his rival’s integrity.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 7, 2018
He was shorter in the grain than ever, crustier to every one than she had ever known him––and toward Nan herself fiercely resentful.
From Nan of Music Mountain by N. C. (Newell Convers) Wyeth
But what makes or breaks Uber is the same as the crustiest old taxi cartel: the drivers making the trips.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2023
It should be clear now too, to even the crustiest of old dinosaurs, that it’s not about lecturing women to toughen up, and learn to brush off wandering paws more lightly.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 31, 2017
If Seattle Symphony maestro Ludovic Morlot and his band really hit it out of the ballpark, even the crustiest crowd may get carried away clapping, too.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 9, 2016
That one and two others, “Broadcast News,” a triangle set in the news business, and “As Good as It Gets,” in which Jack Nicholson played the crustiest of curmudgeons, were best picture nominees.
From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2010
At Christmas sometimes the children sing carols, not with much success so far as melody goes, but otherwise successfully enough; for recollections of the past soften the hearts of the crustiest.
From Wild Life in a Southern County by Richard Jefferies
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.
