"broken, ruined," 1837, past-participle adjective from bust (v.).
Entries linking to busted
bust v.
"to burst," 1806, variant of burst (v.); for loss of -r-, compare ass (n.2). The meaning "go bankrupt" is from 1834. The meaning "break (into)" is from 1859. The slang meaning "demote" (especially in a military sense) is from 1918; that of "place under arrest" is from 1953 (earlier "to raid" from Prohibition). In card games, "to go over a score of 21," from 1939. Related: Busted; busting.