dustyadj.
/ˈdʌsti/, U.S. /ˈdəsti/ 1.
a. Full of, abounding with, or strewn with dust.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > dirtiness or soiling with specific kinds of dirt > [adjective] > dusty
dustya1225
dustish1647
pulvereous1656
pulverulent1737
stoury1792
adust1827
poucey1829
sneezy1848
a1225 Juliana 79 And weorpð þat dusti chef to hellene heate.
1499 Promptorium Parvulorum (Pynson) sig. ev/1 Dusty, pulverulentus.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Fear of Death Our life is but a step in dustie way.
1602 2nd Pt. Returne from Pernassus (Arb.) v. iv. 72 Farewell musty, dusty, rusty, fusty London.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) v. v. 22.
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey III. xiii. 99 Urg'd by fierce drivers thro' the dusty space.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 532 In the dusty recesses of a few old libraries.
1891 Labour Commission Gloss. at Money Dusty money, a special allowance per quarter made when the corn to be unloaded at docks is dusty.
b. Of wine: containing sediment.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > wine > qualities or characteristics of wine > [adjective] > containing or throwing sediment
unracked1581
qually1669
tartarish1757
stubborn1797
dusty1886
1886 J. Noble Handbk. Cape Good Hope 275 Notwithstanding the large amount of alcohol which they [sc. Cape wines] contain, they are not clear and always somewhat ‘dusty’.
2. Consisting of, or of the nature of, dust; powdery.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > granular texture > [adjective] > powdery or dusty
pulverous?a1425
powderyc1425
mealy1541
dusty1552
mully1570
pulverulentous1640
pulvereous1656
pulverulent1656
pulveral1657
powderal1662
farinaceous1664
smutty1667
snuffy1789
floury1830
pulverulous1841
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Dustye, or of dust, puluerius.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lxvi. 18 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 75 A field of dusty sand.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. ii. 185 When..mighty states character-les are grated, To dusty nothing. View more context for this quotation
1748 Acct. Voy. for Discov. North-west Passage I. 157 We had a Fall of small dusty Snow.
1890 Nature 20 Mar. 473 A dusty material of a scaly form.
3. Of colour, etc.: Having the appearance of being strewn with dust. Also adv. qualifying adjectives of colour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [adjective] > dull
fadec1290
wannish?a1412
obscure1490
sada1539
dull1552
smoky1576
sober1603
dead1640
dirty1665
invivid1669
dusty1676
saddisha1678
austere1680
worn-out1731
sombrous1792
sombre1805
toneless1833
lacklustre1843
1676 London Gaz. No. 1148/4 A dusty brown Gelding.
1679 London Gaz. No. 1419/4 A dusty black Gelding.
1701 London Gaz. No. 3703/4 A black dusty-colour Mare.
1844 T. Carlyle Let. 5 Aug. in Corr. Emerson & Carlyle (1964) 363 A great shock of rough dusty-dark hair.
4. In various figurative senses:† a. Soiled or stained as with dust, smirched. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
c1610–15 tr. Gregory of Nazianzus Life St. Gorgonia in C. Horstmann Lives Women Saints (1886) 168 She knew her dayes to haue beene..dustie and deceitfull.
b. Mean, worthless, vile (cf. dust n.1 3d); now only in slang phrase not (or none) so dusty = ‘not so bad’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > paltry, mean, or contemptible
unworthlyc1230
wretcha1250
seely1297
vilec1320
not worth a cress (kerse)1377
the value of a rushc1380
threadbarec1412
wretched1450
miserable?a1513
rascal1519
prettya1522
not worth a whistlea1529
pegrall1535
plack1539
pelting1540
scald1542
sleeveless1551
baggage1553
paltering1553
piddling1559
twopenny1560
paltry1565
rubbish1565
baggagely1573
pelfish1577
halfpenny1579
palting1579
baubling1581
three-halfpenny1581
pitiful1582
triobolar1585
squirting1589
not worth a lousea1592
hedge1596
cheap1597
peddling1597
dribbling1600
mean1600
rascally1600
three-farthingc1600
draughty1602
dilute1605
copper1609
peltry?a1610
threepenny1613
pelsy1631
pimping1640
triobolary1644
pigwidgeon1647
dustya1649
fiddling1652
puddlinga1653
insignificant1658
piteous1667
snotty1681
scrubbed1688
dishonourable1699
scrub1711
footy1720
fouty1722
rubbishing1731
chuck-farthing1748
rubbishy1753
shabby1753
scrubby1754
poxya1758
rubbishly1777
waff-like1808
trinkety1817
meanish1831
one-eyed1843
twiddling1844
measly1847
poking1850
picayunish1852
vild1853
picayune1856
snide1859
two-cent1859
rummagy1872
faddling1883
finicking1886
slushy1889
twopence halfpenny1890
jerk1893
pissy1922
crappy1928
two-bit1932
piddly1933
chickenshit1934
pissing1937
penny packet1943
farkakte1960
pony1964
gay1978
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being satisfactory > [adjective]
wellOE
sufferablea1340
worthy1340
sufficient1489
paregala1500
competent1535
something like?1556
right1567
sweet1577
fairish1611
all right1652
fair1656
comfortable1658
decent1711
respectable1750
unrepulsive1787
decentisha1814
fair-to-middling1822
fine1828
christena1838
OK1839
tidy1844
not (or none) so dusty?1856
sweet1898
oke1928
okey-doke1934
okey-dokey1936
tickety-boo1939
cool1951
aight1993
a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 144 Yet should they not envy silly Men a dusty Honour.
?1856 F. E. Smedley Harry Coverdale's Courtship xlii. 312 None so dusty that—eh? for a commoner like me?
1864 J. C. Hotten Slang Dict. (new ed.) 128 ‘What do you think of this?’ ‘Well, it's not so dusty,’ i.e., not so bad; sometimes varied to ‘none so dusty’.
1893 R. Kipling Many Inventions 148 B Company has come up very well, I said..They're none so dusty now, are they?
1926 J. Galsworthy Escape i. i Out of Germany! Cripes! That was none so dusty!
1929 J. B. Priestley Good Compan. i. i. 16 ‘You're a swell tonight all right!’..‘Not so dusty, Mar,’ said Leonard.
c. Obscured as with a cloud of dust.
ΚΠ
1847 L. Hunt Men, Women, & Bks. I. ix. 172 What, to his dusty apprehension, appeared the most confused..story in the world.
d. ‘Dry as dust’, uninteresting. Also, unsatisfying, inconclusive, poor; esp. in dusty answer.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious
dreicha1300
alangec1330
joylessa1400
tedious1412
wearifulc1454
weary1465
laboriousa1475
tiresome?a1513
irksome1513
wearisome1530
woodena1566
irkful1570
flat1573
leaden1593
barren1600
soaked1600
unlively1608
dulla1616
irking1629
drearisome1633
drear1645
plumbous1651
fatigable1656
dreary1667
uncurious1685
unenlivened1692
blank1726
disinteresting1737
stupid1748
stagnant1749
trist?1756
vegetable1757
borish1766
uninteresting1769
unenlivening1774
oorie1787
wearying1796
subjectless1803
yawny1805
wearing1811
stuffy1813
sloomy1820
tediousome1823
arid1827
lacklustrous1834
boring1839
featureless1839
slow1840
sodden1853
ennuying1858
dusty1860
cabbagy1861
old1864
mouldy1876
yawnful1878
drab1880
dehydrated1884
interestless1886
jay1889
boresome1895
stodgy1895
stuffy1895
yawnsome1900
sludgy1901
draggy1922
blah1937
nowhere1940
drack1945
stupefactive1970
schleppy1978
wack1986
1860 N. Hawthorne Marble Faun I. v. 63 Hard and dusty facts.
1862 G. Meredith Mod. Love 82 Ah, what a dusty answer gets the soul When hot for certainties in this our life!
1927 R. Lehmann (title) Dusty answer.
1936 ‘I. Hay’ Housemaster xix. 235 The applicants met with what is technically known as a dusty answer.
Compounds
C1.
dusty-footed adj.
ΚΠ
1835 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece I. 417 Conipodes, the dusty-footed.
C2. † dusty-poll n. Obsolete a nickname for a miller.
dusty boy n. Naval slang a naval stores rating.
ΚΠ
1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era 120/2 Dusty, a ship's steward's assistant.]
1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin vii. 114 Puts on a lot o' swank fur a bloomin' dusty boy.
dusty miller n. (a) a popular name of the auricula ( Primula auricula), from the fine powder on the leaves and flowers; also of Senecio cineraria and Cerastium tomentosum; (b) a kind of artificial fly used in angling; (c) any of several noctuid moths with speckled markings on their wings (U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > primrose and allied flowers > primrose or auricula
primrosea1425
primula1526
petty mullein1578
bear's ear1597
bear's ear sanicle1597
bird's eye1597
mountain cowslip1597
rock rose1597
French cowslip1629
auricula1655
polyanthusa1678
polyanth1757
Scotch primrose1777
plumrose1787
plumrock1789
bird's eye primrose1796
Chinese primrose1825
dusty miller1825
Jack-in-the-box1850
Jack in the green1875
polyanthus primrose1882
boar's-ears-
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Dustie-miller, the plant Auricola.
1872 F. Francis Bk. Angling (ed. 3) x. 343 Add to the minnick flies for a low bright water..the ‘Dusty Miller’.
1888 Chambers's Encycl. I. 581 The auricula has..the popular name in Scotland of ‘Dusty Miller’.
1909 G. Stratton-Porter Girl of Limberlost xii. 243 Small insects of night gathered, and at last a little dusty miller, but nothing came of any size.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > milling or grinding > [noun] > miller
millwardeOE
millerOE
meal-maker1274
windmillward1314
dusty-poll?1518
mill-yemer1530
water miller1533
windmiller1533
pikeman1551
milleress1680
corn-grinder1841
?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. B.ij A myller dusty-poll than dyde come.
a1600 I. T. Grim the Collier iv. i, in W. C. Hazlitt Dodsley's Sel. Coll. Old Eng. Plays (1874) VIII. 446 Now, miller, miller dustipoll I'll clapper-claw your jobbernole.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.a1225