mistrust
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
mistrusts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mistrusted,
past participle, past
-
mistrusting
present participle
-
to regard with mistrust, suspicion, or doubt; distrust.
-
to surmise.
verb (used without object)
-
mistrusts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mistrusted,
past participle, past
-
mistrusting
present participle
verb
noun
Usage
What’s the difference between mistrust and distrust? As nouns, mistrust and distrust 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 mistrust and distrust 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 mistrust and distrust.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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mistrusternoun
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mistrustfulnessnoun
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self-mistrustnoun
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mistrustfuladjective
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unmistrustedadjective
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unmistrustingadjective
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mistrustfullyadverb
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mistrustinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mistrustsimple
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mistrustssimple
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have mistrustedperfect
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has mistrustedperfect
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am mistrustingprogressive
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are mistrustingprogressive
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is mistrustingprogressive
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have been mistrustingperfect progressive
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has been mistrustingperfect progressive
Past
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mistrustedsimple
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had mistrustedperfect
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was mistrustingprogressive
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were mistrustingprogressive
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had been mistrustingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mistrust
1350–1400; Middle English mistrusten (v.), mistrust (noun). See mis- 1, trust
Explanation
To mistrust is to feel uneasy about someone or something. If you mistrust bus drivers, you may decide to walk instead. Are you suspicious of clowns in general? Then you mistrust them. This verb has a very similar meaning to distrust — as nouns, both words mean "a lack of trust." A subtle difference between the two is that distrust tends to be based on a bad experience (if a clown once pinched you, you will probably always distrust that clown). Mistrust, on the other hand, is a more general sense of suspicion.
Vocabulary lists containing mistrust
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mis-
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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:
Whether or not you’ve done anything to deserve this mistrust, it seems like your employees feel a bit uneasy.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
Deep mistrust remains, with their contested Himalayan frontier, a widening trade deficit and strategic rivalry still complicating ties.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
It was a time of deep-rooted mistrust in policing and a street code that forbade snitching to authorities.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
As universities crack down on AI, extreme monitoring policies and false accusations are fueling a deep mistrust between professors and students.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
Deep otter-brown lines of preoccupation etched themselves permanently into his careworn face and gave him a harried look of sobriety and mistrust.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
She’s getting more famous — drawing more and more people away from the influencer pop-ups and into her tent at Coachella — her life, in many ways, fulfilling the very impulse she mistrusts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2026
On the contrary, he mistrusts them, scorning even the praise heaped upon him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
Johann Scholtz, European bank analyst at Morningstar, mistrusts the earnings expectations.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2025
Intelligence officials say that Moscow was initially hesitant to reach out to Tehran, whose leaders it mistrusts and whose nuclear ambitions it has consistently opposed.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 24, 2022
Thus she: At once the generous train complies, Nor fraud mistrusts in virtue’s fair disguise.
From The Art of Needle-work, from the Earliest Ages, 3rd ed. Including Some Notices of the Ancient Historical Tapestries by Sutherland Menzies
She mistrusted the comfort of a collective identity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
“The human rights people mistrusted the military, the military distrusted the guerrillas.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2023
Involving the Shin Bet, which is deeply mistrusted by Palestinian citizens, is another sign of the tone deafness, critics say.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 18, 2023
Dr Mahathir, the first Malaysian leader not to be educated in Britain, mistrusted Western influence.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2022
He was “of an easy-going innocent nature,” a reporter later observed, “he mistrusted nothing.”
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
To the Ukrainian leader -- seen as mistrusting of those with political ambitions or popular appeal -- the ever-loyal Syrsky, a career military man, was in many respects an ideal commander.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
But what makes that introduction to the world of “Holland” particularly irksome is not just that it’s mistrusting of its audience, but that it’s also mistrusting of the film itself.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2025
"My child started losing faith in me, they started mistrusting me."
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2023
As a result, Ada was mistrusting and suspicious.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 14, 2023
More and more, mistrusting his interpreters, he tries to speak in Kikongo.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
