dusty

[duhs-tee]

adjective

dustier, dustiest 

1. filled, covered, or clouded with or as with dust.

2. of the nature of dust; powdery.

3. of the color of dust; having a grayish cast.

dusty

/ ˈdʌstɪ /

adjective

1. covered with or involving dust

2. like dust in appearance or colour

3. (of a colour) tinged with grey; pale

   dusty pink

4. an unhelpful or bad-tempered reply

5. informal,  not too bad; fairly well: often in response to the greeting how are you?

Other Word Forms

• dustiness noun
• dustily adverb
• undusty adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dusty¹

Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; dust, -y ¹

Example Sentences

Sharing a cold cucumber salad from the hotel’s in-house restaurant, they gazed across the spacious pool area with its wide platform loungers and stucco walls that perfectly matched the color of the dusty landscape beyond.

From Los Angeles Times

They scrounged for clean blankets, saline and other emergency medical supplies in the dusty and mud-caked camp.

From Los Angeles Times

Inside a dimly lit diamond polishing unit on the city's outskirts, rows of dusty, unused tables stretch out in silence.

From BBC

A soldier with a dusty uniform sat eating a burger and drinking red wine with his M-16 cradled on his lap.

From BBC

Footage of a school bus driving through dusty farmland began to play.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• chalky 
• dirty 
• sandy