trusty
Americanadjective
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faithful or reliable
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archaic trusting
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of trusty
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at trust, -y 1
Explanation
Use trusty to describe something you can count on, especially if you've relied on it for a long time. You don't need a fancy bike—your trusty roller skates will get you to school on time! This informal adjective is perfect for talking about people and objects that are tried-and-true, even if they're a little worn out. If your friend shows off her brand new laptop, you could say, "I'm happy with my trusty old typewriter!" Before the 14th century, trusty meant "trusting." As a noun, it can also be used to mean "trustworthy person," particularly a prisoner who has shown good conduct.
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.
See Examples For:
Ben Jones, the actor best known for portraying trusty mechanic Cooter Davenport on “The Dukes of Hazzard” before serving two terms in Congress as a representative from Georgia, has died.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Your trusty electric fan could help more than you think - but only if you put it in the right place.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Working with his trusty producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson, Styles builds gorgeously detailed grooves like the blissed-out gospel-house “Aperture”; “Are You Listening Yet?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2026
Iryna Terekh, the company’s 33-year-old technical director, compares their reliability to that of the Kalashnikov, a trusty rifle lauded for its ruggedness and simplicity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
Harry pulled out his trusty copy of Advanced Potion-Making and turned to the chapter on antidotes.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
The housing area involved, Aloma said, was a dorm in Module 3600 that houses 16 to 20 inmate workers known as trusties.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
Wearing his trademark cowboy hat and boots, Blakely said he had fewer privileges than jail trusties and denied receiving special treatment from his former staff.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 5, 2021
“It’s always sad when one of the trusties has to retire,” Stenson told PGATour.com's Andrew Tursky on Tuesday at the Houston Open.
From Golf Digest ● Oct. 9, 2019
A bit later, Janet took me past the guardhouse, where Sanders used to hang out with the troopers, and the driveway, where her daughter played basketball with prison trusties who worked at the mansion.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 17, 2018
Two inmate trusties who had been mopping the floor stopped to watch the officers struggle with the wheelchair and the cage.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Or a better, trustier reputation, as opposed to one that investors and potential customers immediately associate with stories about an oddball founder who lost a bunch of money.
From Slate ● Nov. 8, 2023
The biggest crypto execs and celebrities believe that they are the industry’s adults in the room, here to offer a better and trustier product than Bankman-Fried did.
From Slate ● Oct. 3, 2023
Her backhand was the trustier weapon, and Gauff drilled one down the line to claim her first game.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 4, 2022
That was enough to kick off a jam session lasting another hour, with Phumiphon, joined by some of his own royal band, switching between his brand-new clarinet and his trustier saxophone.
From Time Magazine Archive
Walpole realized that to govern Ireland from England he must have a trustier aid, a heavier hand, and a more vigilant eye, than were afforded in Carteret.
From The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D. — Volume 06 The Drapier's Letters by Jonathan Swift
Smoke is uptown Manhattan’s trustiest home for world-class, straight-ahead jazz; the venue also runs its own in-house record label.
From New York Times ● Dec. 20, 2018
Email a photo of you and your trustiest ride to us at [email protected].
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2018
The protagonist of “A Legacy of Spies” is Peter Guillam, trustiest of Smiley’s operators in the field, who has long since retired to a farm in Brittany.
From Economist ● Sep. 7, 2017
The real potential in YouNow celebrity is not that broadcasters will become movie stars some day—it’s that social media broadcasting will soon subsume film as the world’s trustiest star-making vehicle.
From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2015
Some day you'll find out that it isn't the politest folks that's the trustiest, or sticks to you the faithfullest.
From Flint His Faults, His Friendships and His Fortunes by Maud Wilder Goodwin
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