trusty
Americanadjective
-
faithful or reliable
-
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:
She implemented wry wit like a tactical defense, a trusty tool in her arsenal that could disarm an opponent and defuse tricky conversations.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
But the chances started to become more frequent, and soon it was the trusty left boot of Tierney that unlocked the door, allowing Nygren to head home from six yards out with a pinpoint cross.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
With his trusty bow and arrow, he hunts game and safeguards his twin sister Asa – who, for unexplained reasons, resides behind bars in a dark cell.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Instead, use seasonal accessories to make trusty basics go the extra mile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Humiliated, I flick around on my trusty Zenith, trying to find the football game.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
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
Finally, the prisoner trusties suggested lifting the cage and tilting it slightly, which everyone agreed to try.
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
This learn from me, Our master's secret sleeps with trustier tongues, Than will unlock themselves to carls like you.
From The Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4 by Charles Lamb
Then again, there are times when Misiorowski doesn’t need anything else besides his trustiest weapon: a fastball so good that even big-leaguers usually can’t catch up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
It’s among the trustiest truisms of show business.
From New York Times ● Nov. 8, 2021
IT WAS the dismissal and flight abroad of Robert Mugabe’s oldest and trustiest lieutenant that finally led to his downfall.
From Economist ● Nov. 16, 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
Only the trustiest men had been set upon this search, Mr. Ford taking the most active part in it.
From Dorothy on a Ranch by Evelyn Raymond
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.
