entrust
Americanverb (used with object)
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entrusts,
present (3rd person singular)
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entrusted,
past participle, past
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entrusting
present participle
verb
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(usually foll by with) to invest or charge (with a duty, responsibility, etc)
-
(often foll by to) to put into the care or protection of someone
Usage
It is usually considered incorrect to talk about entrusting someone to do something: the army cannot be trusted (not entrusted ) to carry out orders
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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entrustsimple
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entrustssimple
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have entrustedperfect
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has entrustedperfect
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am entrustingprogressive
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are entrustingprogressive
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is entrustingprogressive
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have been entrustingperfect progressive
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has been entrustingperfect progressive
Past
-
entrustedsimple
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had entrustedperfect
-
was entrustingprogressive
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were entrustingprogressive
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had been entrustingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of entrust
Explanation
To entrust is to give someone a responsibility you assume she will fulfill. If you entrust someone with the task of getting you to school on time, make sure she’s punctual. To entrust is to let someone take care of something for you because you believe she will protect it. It could be a duty or a thing — you might entrust a nursing home with the care of your parents or entrust an accountant with your finances. Entrust is a verb that needs an object, so you always entrust with or to something. If a friend entrusts you with a secret, she trusts you not to tell.
Vocabulary lists containing entrust
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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:
The fraud possibilities around A.I. agents seem legitimately boundless, and so do the ways it could go wrong for people to entrust these apps with sensitive information.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
"I do not want to entrust national pride to the wrong people," said Klopp, who prefers the term "positive patriotism" to "national pride", which he fears can be misunderstood.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Murrin’s case highlights pitfalls that lurk when people entrust someone with their taxes, according to Olson.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
When we entrust digital platforms with our biometric data, we hand over unique, irreplaceable biological identifiers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
G. W., by contrast, is happy to entrust himself to ‘strong, and shrewd conjectures’.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
It added: "Leadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding - or demanding - power to be held. It is a duty of service to the football family that entrusts it."
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Constitution entrusts Congress with the power to “declare war.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
Editor Eleanor Infante entrusts the movie’s energy to montages: fashion shoots, photo booths, feeding frenzies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2025
Even the power to decide which crimes to prosecute, which the Constitution entrusts solely to the executive branch, has its limits.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2024
"He entrusts some small matters to us, to lighten his load."
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
“Managements and boards are in the business of allocating the capital entrusted to them by shareholders,” Colas wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
Our job is to be like Sheen—to wade through the strife with courage, clarity and heartfelt concern for the souls entrusted to our care.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
And 10,000 is about the number of oak seedlings he’s entrusted to the hands of people who pledged to care for the tree that has become his mission and obsession.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
Little Dreams said the safety, wellbeing and care of every child entrusted to them was of the "highest priority".
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
“At the age of twenty-nine, I had been entrusted with the successful delivery of the most frightful weapon ever devised,” Tibbets recalled.
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
Sources told The Sun that the actress wants to keep the gown close by rather than entrusting it to an outside storage company.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Asked about entrusting such a project to Riyadh despite criticism of its human rights record, his office said: "At no point, when we attract a project, do we seek to lecture others."
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
Paul, 67, a retired postman from Lowestoft, Suffolk, said that in 2008 his father received a flyer explaining how to protect his assets by entrusting his home over to Long and UWP.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
As these concerns mount, few in the industry have addressed the character of their AI models in quite the same way as 5-year-old Anthropic: by entrusting a single person with so much of the task.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
“You mean aside from the fact that he broke his silence to speak to you? That he’s entrusting his story to you?”
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
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.
