distrust
Americanverb (used with object)
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distrusts,
present (3rd person singular)
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distrusted,
past participle, past
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distrusting
present participle
noun
verb
noun
Usage
What’s the difference between distrust and mistrust? As nouns, distrust and mistrust mean just about the same thing: doubt or suspicion—a lack of trust. As verbs, they are also often used interchangeably to mean to regard someone with suspicion—to not trust them. Some people think that there is a subtle difference in what each word implies. Distrust, they say, implies that there is a strong reason for the lack of trust—that it’s based on something that a person has already done. Mistrust, on the other hand, is said to be based on suspicion, as opposed to having a basis in someone’s past actions. This may be what some people intend to imply when they use each word, but, still, most people use the two of them in just about the same way. Distrust is the more commonly used of the two. The adjective distrustful is also more common than mistrustful. Here are some examples of distrust and mistrust used correctly in a sentence. In both cases, the other word could be swapped in without changing the meaning. Example: I have a deep mistrust of landlords. Example: She has distrusted me ever since I lost her book—and I think her distrust of me has grown since then. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between distrust and mistrust.
Synonym Usage
See suspicion.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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distrustsimple
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distrustssimple
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have distrustedperfect
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has distrustedperfect
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am distrustingprogressive
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are distrustingprogressive
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is distrustingprogressive
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have been distrustingperfect progressive
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has been distrustingperfect progressive
Past
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distrustedsimple
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had distrustedperfect
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was distrustingprogressive
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were distrustingprogressive
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had been distrustingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of distrust
Explanation
Distrust is a feeling of doubt about some person or thing. We distrust people who aren't honest. When you trust someone, you believe in her, so the opposite is true of distrust. Trust is from the Old Norse word traust meaning "confidence." Put a dis in front of it, and to distrust is to have no confidence in someone or something. As a noun, distrust is the feeling of doubt. In a corrupt workplace, there will be a lot of distrust. Where there's distrust, there's not much harmony.
Vocabulary lists containing distrust
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:
“It’s part of a larger distrust of institutions in society.”
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
It is a challenge because of the fear of gang retaliation - and a long-held distrust of the police, which Bond said the force was "working really hard to improve".
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
The sales trends have arrived after the luxury industry hiked prices over the 2020s, following the pandemic and overlapping supply disruptions, leading to distrust among some consumers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
The lack of clear rules and norms is breeding distrust among co-workers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
Yet Carl did little to assuage the natural distrust an ordinary man feels for a man of physical stature.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
He is devoutly religious with a deep libertarian streak, an establishmentarian who distrusts most of today’s establishments, and a traditionalist who is skeptical of the world’s oldest currency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
Kashima-san distrusts westerners — her wounds of wartime haven’t healed — and to see Nishio-san smitten with Amélie feels like a betrayal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2025
As a result, the public distrusts the court system and holds the judicial profession in low regard.
From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2025
In Ukraine, where polls consistently show that about 95% of the population distrusts Putin, there is a uneasy mix of deep scepticism about the talks and deep fatigue with the war.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2025
He distrusts everyone, she reflected, and perhaps for good reason.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
The child the algorithm reads as a threat is the child the institution already distrusted.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
Greenspan was considered a “maestro” who read the economy by feel and distrusted mechanical rules.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
David embraced aristocratic country life and distrusted outsiders; Sydney enjoyed London, music and company.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
Frost told the high court she distrusted friends at the time but now "100%" believes that stories about her were obtained by hacking her voicemails.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
The colonel had never liked the chaplain and now he loathed and distrusted him.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
You couldn’t get a better recipe for creating a sour, distrusting workplace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
"Bird-watchers are tense, competitive, selfish, shifty, dishonest, distrusting, boorish, pedantic, unsentimental, arrogant and - above all, envious" he wrote.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
They’re initially suspicious and distrusting of each other.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
But distrusting the Fed and abandoning the dollar are completely different moves.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2025
Maybe something had happened with him, something that made her sad and distrusting of haints.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
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.
