RUSTY
What does "RUSTY" mean?
Covered with rust, or (of a skill) impaired through lack of recent practice.
Meanings
- Affected by rust; corroded with the reddish-brown coating that forms on iron. The rusty hinge shrieked as the gate swung open.
- Out of practice; impaired by neglect or disuse. My French is rusty, but I can still order coffee. figurative
- Of a rust-like reddish-brown color. The fox darted across the field, a streak of rusty orange.
Word origin
From Old English 'rustig', from 'rust' (the iron oxide coating) plus '-y'; the 'out of practice' sense is a figurative extension dating to the 17th century.
Remember it
RUSTY = RUST + Y: ask 'whY is my skill rusty?'-because, like iron, it wasn't kept moving.
A little poem
The bicycle sleeps
in long grass-its chain blooms brown,
summer's slow surrender.
haiku
Wordplay
- My welding skills are rusty-which is ironic, given what I'm welding.
What it teaches
Neglect corrodes the same way in metal and in skill: rust is just disuse made visible.
Quick facts
What does RUSTY mean?
Covered with rust, or (of a skill) impaired through lack of recent practice.
Is RUSTY a valid word?
Yes — RUSTY is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is RUSTY?
RUSTY has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does RUSTY come from?
From Old English 'rustig', from 'rust' (the iron oxide coating) plus '-y'; the 'out of practice' sense is a figurative extension dating to the 17th century.
What can RUSTY teach us?
Neglect corrodes the same way in metal and in skill: rust is just disuse made visible.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.