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Synonyms

busted

American  
[buhs-tid] / ˈbʌs tɪd /

adjective

  1. broken, fractured, or seriously damaged.

    a busted leg.

  2. no longer working or operating.

    a busted radio.

  3. penniless or bankrupt; broke.

    busted businesses that can’t pay their bills.

  4. failed.

    I never talk about my busted marriages.

  5. in trouble; caught doing something bad or wrong.

    I know that’s a lie—you are so busted!
busted British  
/ ˈbʌstəd /

adjective

  1. informal caught out doing something wrong and therefore in trouble

    you are so busted
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of busted

First recorded in 1835–40; bust 2 ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Here are a couple of myths the experts busted.

From Los Angeles Times

A few operations have been busted in India.

From The Wall Street Journal

It looked to be quite a good hat, with grapes on it, better than the one that got busted up in the accident.

From Literature

Multilingual scripts, images of young women and timed toilet breaks: a police tour of a newly busted cyberscam operation in Cambodia on Wednesday revealed how fraudsters ensnare foreign victims online.

From Barron's

Smith said he was once told that Williamson “got busted hiding food under his bed.”

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.