busted
Americanadjective
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broken, fractured, or seriously damaged.
a busted leg.
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no longer working or operating.
a busted radio.
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penniless or bankrupt; broke.
busted businesses that can’t pay their bills.
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I never talk about my busted marriages.
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in trouble; caught doing something bad or wrong.
I know that’s a lie—you are so busted!
adjective
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.
An orange car pulled into the parking lot, with a busted taillight, and a few members of the group got up and hobbled over.
From Slate • Mar. 25, 2026
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 • Mar. 11, 2026
"But that doctor in there to him was very funny because it gave it this air of authority that he thought that he clearly did not have - especially because he was busted at Oxford."
From BBC • Mar. 2, 2026
When he busted out the Klaebo stride for the first time at the Olympics, social media blew up at the sight of this Norwegian man sprinting uphill.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026
“I guess I never noticed how busted up our school is,” she said, and she pointed toward the ceiling above one of the classroom doors.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
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.
