# dusty

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈdʌsti/ · frequency rank #11,690

## Definitions
1. Covered with dust.
2. Powdery and resembling dust.
3. Grey or greyish.
4. Old; outdated; stuffily traditional.
5. Ugly, disgusting (a general term of abuse).
6. Ugly, unwell, inadequate, bad.

## Etymology
From Middle English dusty, dusti, from Old English dūstiġ, dystiġ, dȳstiġ (“dusty”), equivalent to dust + -y. Cognate with Dutch donzig (“cottony, downy, woolly”), German dunstig (“hazy, misty”).

## Easily confused with
- **duty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dusty-vs-duty)
- **dust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dust-vs-dusty)
- **duct** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/duct-vs-dusty)
- **duly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/duly-vs-dusty)
- **dusk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dusk-vs-dusty)
- **duet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/duet-vs-dusty)
- **dost** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dost-vs-dusty)
- **dist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dist-vs-dusty)
- **dirty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dirty-vs-dusty)
- **dummy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dummy-vs-dusty)
- **deity** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/deity-vs-dusty)
- **Duffy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/duffy-vs-dusty)
- **duchy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/duchy-vs-dusty)
- **dusky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dusky-vs-dusty)
- **durst** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/durst-vs-dusty)
- **ducky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ducky-vs-dusty)
- **ditty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ditty-vs-dusty)
- **Dustin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dustin-vs-dusty)
- **dusted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dusted-vs-dusty)
- **duster** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/duster-vs-dusty)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ddusty`, `dsuty`, `dussty`, `dustty`, `dustyy`, `dusyt`, `dutsy`, `udsty`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/dusty