adust

A1D2U1S1T1
UK/əˈdʌst/

adjective

Abnormally dark or over-concentrated (associated with various states of discomfort or illness, specifically being too hot or dry).

First used 15th c.Scrabble 6

Meanings

adjective
  1. historicalpostpositionalusuallymedicineAbnormally dark or over-concentrated (associated with various states of discomfort or illness, specifically being too hot or dry).First known use 15th c.

    [S]o in fevers and hot diſtempers from choler aduſt is cauſed a blackneſſe in our tongues, teeth and excretions: […]

    1650, Thomas Browne, “A Digression Concerning Blacknesse”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 6th book, page 283
    1 more example

    From melancholy aduſt ariſes one kind [of humour]; from Choler another, which is moſt brutiſh: another from Flegme, which is dull; and the laſt from Blood, which is beſt.

    1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Of the Matter of Melancholy”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy. […], 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Robert Young, Miles Flesher, and Leonard Lichfield and William Turner] for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section 1, member 3, subsection [3], page 34
  2. broadlyHot and dry; thirsty or parched.

    He was tired and adust with long riding; but he did not go home.

    1862 July – 1863 August, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “At the Barber’s Shop”, in Romola. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1863, →OCLC, book III, page 307
  3. archaicBurnt or having a scorched colour.First known use 15th c.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivedried out by heat or excessive exposure to sunlight

adjectiveburned brown by the sun

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinadustus“burnt, scorched”
  2. Middle Frenchaduste
  3. Englishadust

From Middle French aduste, and its source, Latin adustus (“burnt, scorched”), past participle of adūrere.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with adust

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

adust. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adust

MLA

“adust.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adust. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “adust,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adust.

Source: adust on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.