crufty
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From cruft + -y. Arose after 1959, presumably mid-1960s.[1] Perhaps influenced by cruddy, crusty.[2]
Adjective
[edit]crufty (comparative cruftier, superlative cruftiest)
- (computing, informal) Relating to or containing cruft.
- (computing, informal) Poorly built and overly-complex, and unpleasant.
- Unrefined, dirty or worn.
- 1972, Jan Carew, The wild coast:
- 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.
- 2013, Richard Bowker, The Portal (An Alternative History Novel), page 1614174636:
- I thought I caught him sneering at Kevin and me, in our crufty pants and shoes, but I couldn't be sure.
Derived terms
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Peter R. Samson (1959 June) “crufty”, in An Abridged Dictionary of the TMRC Language[1], first annotated edition, Tech Model Railroad Club of MIT, published 2005, archived from the original on 2007-07-07: “The dictionary has no definition for 'crufty,' a word I didn't hear until some years later.”
- ^ Eric S[teven] Raymond, editor (2003 December 29), “crufty”, in The Jargon File, version 4.4.7.