Crusty

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ÊŒsti

Origin

From Middle English, equivalent to crust + -y.

Full definition of crusty

Adjective

1. Pertaining to or having a crust, as, for example, in the case of bread.
2. (figuratively, of a person or behavior) Short-tempered and gruff but, sometimes, with a harmless or benign inner nature; peevish, surly, harsh.

Noun

1. (chiefly British) A tramp or homeless young person with poor cleanliness.
2. (slang) Dried eye mucus.
• 1999, Vinnie Hansen, Murder, Honey, Xlibris Corporation, ISBN 0-7388-0467-3, page 155:Against the backdrop of muted stripes of color, Julieanne picked at her eyes’ crusties, and then combed her hair with the hand.
• 2003, Mary O'Connell, "Saint Anne", in Living with Saints, Grove Press, ISBN 0-8021-3926-4, page 209:Jesus, how could I bear the sight of him—sleep crusties lodged in the corners of his rheumy eyes, a puff of chest hair cresting like meringue over the top of his V-neck sweater, khakis jacked up to his breastbone—when I was used to looking at the singularly lovely Isabella?
• 2005, Jeffrey Dinsmore, I, an Actress: The Autobiography of Karen Jamey, Contemporary Press, ISBN 0974461490, page 51:I wiped the crusties from my eyes, threw on a sundress, and wandered out into the living room.
3. (chiefly UK) A member of an urban subculture with roots in punk and grebo, characterized by antiestablishment attitudes and an unkempt appearance.

Synonyms

• (dried eye mucus) gound UK dialectal, sleep, sleepy dust informal

Anagrams

• curtsy