ENGLISH
REFERENCE

dusty

adj.
A2 Elementary US //ˈdəsti// UK //dˈʌsti// dusty Archaic Informal Slang

adj. covered with dust or full of very small pieces of dirt. You use this to describe things that have not been cleaned or used for a long time.

adj. covered with or resembling fine particles of matter. Often implies a state of neglect or long-term disuse.


SIMPLE

The old books on the shelf are very dusty.

CONTEXTUAL

After the long drive across the desert, the entire car was covered in a thick, dusty layer of sand.

COMPLEX

The sunlight streaming through the attic window revealed thousands of dusty motes dancing in the stagnant air, highlighting decades of undisturbed storage.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

Derived from Dustin.

Etymology 2

Derived from dusty, from the tendency of persons engaged in the milling of flour to become covered with flour dust.

Usage

Gradable adjective; commonly modified by 'very', 'quite', or 'extremely'.

Idioms1 entry

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