crufty

C3R1U1F4T1Y4

adjective

Relating to or containing cruft.

RareScrabble 14

Meanings

adjectivecrufty (comparative cruftier, superlative cruftiest)

comparative cruftier · superlative cruftiest

  1. informalcomputingRelating to or containing cruft.
  2. informalcomputingPoorly built and overly-complex, and unpleasant.
  3. 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 1614174636
    1 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
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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