crustiness

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   The quality of having a hard, dry outer layer, especially on bread or pastry.

   Grammar: Uncountable: talk about the crustiness of something, not 'a crustiness'.

   Patterns

   • the crustiness of something
   • a certain crustiness

   The baker was proud of the crustiness of his sourdough loaves.

   A few minutes more in the oven gave the pie an appealing crustiness.

2. 2noununcountabledisapproving

   A gruff, irritable manner that shows impatience with other people.

   Grammar: Uncountable and usually used with 'a touch of' or 'a certain' to soften the criticism.

   Patterns

   • a touch of crustiness
   • the crustiness of someone

   His crustiness in meetings made it hard for new staff to ask questions.

   Underneath her crustiness, she was generous and kind.

Common combinations

a touch of crustiness

There was a touch of crustiness in his reply.

the crustiness of the bread

The crustiness of the bread improved after the second rise.

hide one's crustiness

She tried to hide her crustiness behind a smile.

Synonyms and how they differ

hardness

Use 'hardness' for any solid surface; 'crustiness' is specifically about a dry outer layer, often food.

gruffness

'Gruffness' is closer to a rough, low voice, while 'crustiness' suggests impatience and a short manner.

Opposites

Word family

crusty adjective

Having a hard outer layer, or behaving in a gruff way.

crust noun

The hard outer layer itself.

Commonly confused: crustiness or crustacean?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “crustiness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words