Meanings
plural distrusts
- uncountableusuallyLack of trust or confidence.
Many people have developed a cynical distrust of politicians.
present singular third person distrusts · participle present distrusting · participle past distrusted · past distrusted · first person past singular distrusted · archaic present second person singular distrustest · past second person singular distrusted · archaic past second person singular distrustedst · present singular third person distrusts · archaic present singular third person distrusteth · past singular third person distrusted · past plural distrusted · past subjunctive distrusted · participle present distrusting · participle past distrusted
- To put no trust in; to have no confidence in.
Lord Baelish, perhaps I was wrong to distrust you. Petyr Baelish (Aidan Gillen): Distrusting me was the wisest thing you've done since you climbed off your horse.
2011 May 8, Bryan Cogman, “Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things”, in Game of Thrones, season 1, episode 4, spoken by Eddard Stark (Sean Bean)1 more example
Moreover, genuinely conservative governments were inclined to distrust all intellectuals and ideologists, even reactionary ones, for, once the principle of thinking rather than obeying was accepted, the end was in sight.
1962, Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution. 1789-1848, page 230
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
noundoubt about someone's honesty
verbregard as untrustworthy; regard with suspicion; have no faith or confidence in
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From dis- + trust, alteration of the earlier term wantrust.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀπιστία, ἀπιστέω
- ἀπιστία (apistía)lack of trust or confidence
- ἀπιστέω (apistéō)to put no trust in
Bulgarian недоверие, съмнение
- недоверие (nedoverie)lack of trust or confidence
- съмнение (sămnenie)lack of trust or confidence
- съмнявам се (sămnjavam se)to put no trust in
Chinese Mandarin 疑惑, 不信
- 疑惑 (yíhuò)lack of trust or confidence
- 不信 (bùxìn)lack of trust or confidence
Czech nedůvěra, nedůvěřovat
- nedůvěralack of trust or confidence
- nedůvěřovatto put no trust in
Dutch wantrouwen, wantrouwen
- wantrouwenlack of trust or confidence
- wantrouwento put no trust in
Esperanto malfido, malfidi
- malfidolack of trust or confidence
- malfidito put no trust in
Finnish epäluottamus, olla luottamatta
- epäluottamuslack of trust or confidence
- olla luottamattato put no trust in
French défiance, méfiance
- défiancelack of trust or confidence
- méfiancelack of trust or confidence
- se méfierto put no trust in
German Misstrauen, Argwohn
- Misstrauenlack of trust or confidence
- Argwohnlack of trust or confidence
Greek καχυποψία
- καχυποψία (kachypopsía)lack of trust or confidence
Hungarian bizalmatlanság
- bizalmatlanságlack of trust or confidence
Indonesian ketidakpercayaan
- ketidakpercayaanlack of trust or confidence
Italian diffidenza, sfiducia
- diffidenzalack of trust or confidence
- sfiducialack of trust or confidence
- diffidoto put no trust in
Japanese 疑惑, 不信
- 疑惑 (giwaku)lack of trust or confidence
- 不信 (fushin)lack of trust or confidence
Korean 의혹, 불신
- 의혹 (uihok)lack of trust or confidence
- 불신 (bulsin)lack of trust or confidence
Māori matakana, hoto
- matakanato put no trust in
- hototo put no trust in
Norwegian Bokmål mistillit
- mistillitlack of trust or confidence
Polish niedowierzanie
- niedowierzanielack of trust or confidence
Portuguese desconfiança, desconfiar de
- desconfiançalack of trust or confidence
- desconfiar deto put no trust in
Romanian neîncredere, difidență
- neîncrederelack of trust or confidence
- difidențălack of trust or confidence
- suspectato put no trust in
- mefiato put no trust in
Russian недове́рие, сомне́ние
- недове́рие (nedovérije)lack of trust or confidence
- сомне́ние (somnénije)lack of trust or confidence
Spanish desconfianza, recelo
- desconfianzalack of trust or confidence
- recelolack of trust or confidence
- difidencialack of trust or confidence
- defianzalack of trust or confidence
- desconfiarto put no trust in
Swedish misstro, misstro
- misstrolack of trust or confidence
- misstroto put no trust in
Tagalog kawalang-tiwala
- kawalang-tiwalalack of trust or confidence
Ukrainian недові́ра, недові́р'я
- недові́ра (nedovíra)lack of trust or confidence
- недові́р'я (nedovírʺja)lack of trust or confidence
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with distrust
Cite this entry
distrust. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/distrust
“distrust.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/distrust. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “distrust,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/distrust.
Source: distrust on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.