mistrust

[ mis-truhst ]
See synonyms for mistrust on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. lack of trust or confidence; distrust.

verb (used with object)
  1. to regard with mistrust, suspicion, or doubt; distrust.

  2. to surmise.

verb (used without object)
  1. to be distrustful.

Origin of mistrust

1
1350–1400; Middle English mistrusten (v.), mistrust (noun). See mis-1, trust

Other words from mistrust

  • mis·trust·er, noun
  • mis·trust·ing·ly, adverb
  • self-mis·trust, noun
  • un·mis·trust·ed, adjective
  • un·mis·trust·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use mistrust in a sentence

  • Her passion for the young man had filled her soul, given her a certain satisfaction, eased her of her self-mistrust, her doubt.

    Sons and Lovers | David Herbert Lawrence
  • We offer this solution to savants with the most profound self-mistrust.

    Instigations | Ezra Pound
  • The realization bent her slender figure under a load of self-reproach and self-mistrust.

    Told in a French Garden | Mildred Aldrich
  • Underneath their charmingly gay and open manner there is a self-consciousness, a self-mistrust.

  • Our energies in Ireland are sapped by a cynical self-mistrust which is spread everywhere through society.

    Imaginations and Reveries | (A.E.) George William Russell

British Dictionary definitions for mistrust

mistrust

/ (ˌmɪsˈtrʌst) /


verb
  1. to have doubts or suspicions about (someone or something)

noun
  1. distrust

Derived forms of mistrust

  • mistruster, noun
  • mistrustful, adjective
  • mistrustfully, adverb
  • mistrustfulness, noun

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