dustied

Dustied is an informal adjective describing something that is covered in dust or left in a state of neglect, often conveying a sense of age or abandonment beyond a plain dusty condition. In usage it can describe objects, spaces, or environments that have not been maintained for a long time, or that carry the marks of time in a way that feels deliberate or evocative rather than literal cleanliness.

Etymology and status: The form appears to be a back-formation from dust with the -ied suffix, following patterns seen in casual English coinages. It is not widely attested in leading dictionaries and remains mainly within informal speech, social media, and contemporary creative writing. Varieties such as dustily (adv.) and dustiness (noun) exist, but dustied remains the most specific adjectival sense of a heavy, lingering layer of dust.

Usage notes: Dustied often carries a humorous, nostalgic, or moody tone, signaling more than simple cleanliness. It can describe places like attics, basements, old libraries, or artifacts that have acquired character through neglect. Examples: The attic was dustied after years of storage. The manuscript lay dustied on the shelf. It is generally informal and may be considered nonstandard in formal writing.

See also: dusty, dustiness, patina, neglect.