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Synonyms

trustworthy

American  
[truhst-wur-thee] / ˈtrʌstˌwɜr ði /

adjective

  1. deserving of trust or confidence; dependable; reliable.

    The treasurer was not entirely trustworthy.

    Synonyms:
    faithful, honorable, honest, true

trustworthy British  
/ ˈtrʌstˌwɜːðɪ /

adjective

  1. worthy of being trusted; honest, reliable, or dependable

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See reliable.

Other Word Forms

  • trustworthily adverb
  • trustworthiness noun
  • untrustworthily adverb
  • untrustworthy adjective

Etymology

Origin of trustworthy

First recorded in 1800–10; trust + worthy

Explanation

Trustworthy describes something you can believe in — it's completely reliable. Your favorite newspaper can be trustworthy — they always print the truth — and people can be trustworthy too. You only tell your secrets to a trustworthy friend. Breaking apart the word trustworthy gives you a clue to its meaning. It combines the common word trust, which describes something you can rely on, and the word worthy, which describes something that deserves respect. So something — or someone — that's trustworthy deserves your trust. In an election, you'll likely vote for the most trustworthy candidate because you believe she'll keep her promises. If you're trustworthy, that means you're reliable: you do what you say you're going to do.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing trustworthy

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.

“We’re working with OpenClaw builder Peter Steinberger to make self-certified agents, or claws, more trustworthy, scalable, and accessible to the world,” she added.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026

Pavlick leads ARIA, a National Science Foundation AI research institute at Brown focused on building trustworthy AI assistants.

From Science Daily • Mar. 2, 2026

At an AI summit hosted by New Delhi in February, 91 countries and international organisations called for "secure, trustworthy and robust" AI.

From Barron's • Feb. 28, 2026

“Senate faculty need full, trustworthy accounting of decisions and policies that caused the current campus budget deficit,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2026

And, even if Laurence was trustworthy, no one was perfect.

From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold