dusty Definition
dusty (dus′tē)
adjective dust′i·er, dust′i·est
- covered with dust; full of dust
- like dust; powdery
- muted with gray: said of a color dusty pink
Etymology: ME dusti < OE dustig
dusty Related Forms
dust′i·ly adverb
dust′i·ness noun
dusty Synonyms
dusty Usage Examples
Preposition: on
shelf: This is not some fancy business plan to go dusty on the shelf.
Adjective complement with noun phrase
get: Get those fingers dusty in among the racks or keep your fingers clean and check out their mail order section.
Modifies a noun
- tome: While the word'museum ' might summon up images of dusty tomes and forbidding architecture, Kim Pickin's vision is far more fun.
- attic: On the bare wooden floor in the dusty attic, Leo taps.
- shelf: A great writer is not a man who fills our dusty shelves with his forgotten volumes.
- recess: No longer is information held in the dusty recesses of libraries guarded by the academic librarians.
- galaxy: Suppose however that the lens is a dusty spiral galaxy.
- desert: To me, life seems to stretch out endlessly, like a long, dusty desert.
Modifying Another Word
- rather: Cons: Tarmac surfaces where cars were left & collected, but not so good where cars were stored, hence returned rather dusty.
- extremely: It should be applied more often under competition or extremely dusty conditions.
- slightly: We found it at Azeitao, a cluster of villages that surround a slightly dusty town about 45 minutes from Lisbon.
- very: Wrong keys given had to return them - car returned back very dusty.
- quite: Cons: Car got quite dusty from the concrete recycling plant.
- so: My verdict: - Not so dusty, but give me caving any time!
Used with adjective complement
- get: You know, the crockery you haven't used for years, getting dusty in the cupboard, loft or garage.
- become: In that day people wore sandals and their feet became quite dusty.
- sit: There is an old telex machine in one of the offices, sitting dusty in the corner, making you think it's 1976.
- return: Wrong keys given had to return them - car returned back very dusty.
- go: This is not some fancy business plan to go dusty on the shelf.
Preposition: in
summer: Roads and lanes were dry and dusty in summer, and muddy morasses in the worst of the wet winter weather.
Browse dictionary entries near dusty
- ‹ dustproof
- ‹ dustpan
- ‹ dustman
- ‹ dustless
- ‹ dusting powder
- ‹ dustheap
- ‹ duster
- ‹ dustbin
- ‹ dust wrapper
- ‹ dust-up

