crusty

Etymology

It is formed from English crust + -y,^[2][3][4][5] first as crusti.^[6][5] The noun crust is from Middle English cruste, from Old French crouste and Latin crusta (“rind, crust, shell, bark”),^[7][3] which Etymonline derives from Proto-Indo-European *krus-to- (“that which has been hardened”), a suffixed form of *kreus- (“to begin to freeze, form a crust”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Scabby, of skin: about 1400, in the Middle English translation of Lanfranc's Cirurgie, where it renders Latin crustosus.^[6][2] Etymonline also dates the word to about 1400, with the senses "scabby, like a crust, hard".^[3]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense covered anything hard like a crust or having a crust, and later wine, especially port, that has formed a crust in the bottle.^[2][4][5] The figurative sense, of a person who is short-tempered and curt, is recorded from about 1570, in Preston's Cambyses;^[2][8] Etymonline dates it to the 1560s.^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as "sturdy; morose; snappish" and labelled it "a low word".^[9] A 17th-century sense, hardened or stubborn, did not last.^[2] Modern dictionaries note that the sense is used especially of older people.^[7][10] Since 1990 crusty (also crustie) has also been a noun for one of a group of young people, often homeless, with rough clothes and matted hair, living by begging or travelling;^[2][11] Green's Dictionary of Slang ties the name to their deliberately dirty clothes.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – scabby; hard like a crust.^[2][6]
• c. 1570 – of people, short-tempered, curt.^[2][8]
• 1651–3 – hardened, stubborn (obsolete).^[2]
• 1990 – noun, one of a group of unkempt young homeless people or travellers.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having a crust, especially a crisp, hard one: a crusty loaf.^[11][5][7]
2. Surly and short-tempered, often rudely abrupt; used especially of older people: a crusty old neighbour.^{[11][7][10][5]}
3. Of wine, especially port, having formed a crust; old and mellow.^[5][2][12]

Noun

1. (informal) A young person of a subculture marked by a shabby, unwashed look, matted hair and a nomadic way of life.^{[10][11][2][8]}

Word family

• crustily
• crustiness

Related words

• crust

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers