mistrust

Language: en

🇺🇸 /mɪˈstrʌst/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    A lack of trust or confidence in someone or something; suspicion or doubt about the reliability, truth, or ability of a person or thing.; A feeling of unease or apprehension about a particular situation or outcome; a vague sense that something may be wrong.
  2. verb
    To regard someone or something with suspicion or a lack of trust; to have no confidence in.; To doubt the truth, validity, or reliability of something; to be skeptical about.; To feel uneasy or apprehensive about a situation; to have a foreboding or misgiving.

🔗 Details

Word forms

uncountable 3rd sing.: mistrusts Past: mistrusted Past part.: mistrusted Pres part.: mistrusting

Collocations

deep mistrustmutual mistrustmistrust ofwidespread mistrustmistrust betweengrowing mistrust

Derivatives

mistrustfulmistrustfullymistrustfulness

Synonyms

distrustsuspiciondoubtwarinessskepticismmisgiving

Antonyms

trustconfidencefaith

Commonly confused

distrust
EN: 'Distrust' is more common and often implies a stronger, more definitive lack of trust, while 'mistrust' can suggest a more cautious or hesitant unease.

Spelling tips

EN: No common spelling issues, but note the prefix is 'mis-' (not 'dis-'), which is the main source of confusion with 'distrust'.

💬 Examples

  1. There was a deep mistrust between the two political parties that made cooperation impossible.

  2. She felt a growing mistrust of the company's promises after several broken deadlines.

  3. The villagers mistrusted the strangers who arrived without any explanation.

  4. He mistrusted the official statistics, believing they had been manipulated for political purposes.

  5. I mistrust the calm before the storm; something bad is about to happen.