Meanings
comparative cruftier · superlative cruftiest
- informalcomputingRelating to or containing cruft.
- informalcomputingPoorly built and overly-complex, and unpleasant.
- Unrefined, dirty or worn.
I thought I caught him sneering at Kevin and me, in our crufty pants and shoes, but I couldn't be sure.
2013, Richard Bowker, The Portal (An Alternative History Novel), page 16141746361 more example
All these years I been living with you we en't go nowhere. You want a beast of burden, not a woman. Because you is a big, crufty, niggerman with the strength of an ox and a mind big and empty like midday sky you think me is the same.
1972, Jan Carew, The wild coast
Origin
From cruft + -y. Arose after 1959, presumably mid-1960s. Perhaps influenced by cruddy, crusty.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
crufty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crufty
“crufty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crufty. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crufty,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crufty.
Source: crufty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.