mistrust
/mɪsˈtɹʌst/
mistrust noun: lack of trust or confidence; distrust, untrust.
Noun
mistrust (usually uncountable, plural mistrusts)
- Lack of trust or confidence; distrust, untrust.
Verb
mistrust (third-person singular simple present mistrusts, present participle mistrusting, simple past and past participle mistrusted)
- To have no confidence in (something or someone).
- The Britans marching out againſt them, and miſtruſting thir own power, ſend to Germanus and his Collegue, repoſing more in the ſpiritual ſtrength of thoſe two men, than in thir own thouſands arm’d.1670, John Milton, “The Third Book”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC, page 104
- He mistrusted my youth, my common-sense, and my seamanship, and made a point of showing it in a hundred little ways.1898 September, Joseph Conrad, “Youth: a Narrative”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXIV, number DCCCCXCV, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publication Co., page 311, column 1
- To be wary, suspicious or doubtful of (something or someone).
- It is most strange to report what outragious acts […] haue beene committed […] by women especially, that will runne after their husbands into all places, all companies, as Iouianus Pontanus wife did by him, follow him whether soeuer hee goes, it matters not, or vpon what businesse, rauing […]...1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Henry Cripps, Partition 3, Section 3, Member 2, Subsection 1, p. 683
- The innocent beauty of her face was not as innocent to me as it had been; I mistrusted the natural grace and charm of her manner […]1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, “I Look about Me, and Make a Discovery”, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 199
- To suspect, to imagine or suppose (something) to be the case.
- […] I propheſie, that many a thouſand,
Which now miſtruſt no parcell of my feare,
And many an old mans ſighe, and many a Widdowes,
And many an Orphans water-ſtanding-eye,
Men for their Sonnes, Wiues for their Husbands,
Orphans, for their Parents timeles death,
Shall rue the houre that euer thou...c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard... - As soon as it was dark enough to conceal our Flight, we assembl’d together, and took a considerable Quantity of Muslins and Callicoes, and hung them upon the Bushes, that the Spies, who we knew watch’d us, might not any ways mistrust our sudden Removal.1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, page 51
- […] I propheſie, that many a thouſand,
- To be suspicious.
- She wuz soft in her complexion, her lips, her cheeks, her hands, and as I mistrusted at that first minute, and found out afterwards, soft in her head too.1887, Marietta Holley, chapter 2, in Samantha at Saratoga, Philadelphia: Hubbard Brothers, page 46
- And yes, she has long mistrusted
That a cider apple tree
In bearing there to-day is hers,
Or at least may be.1916, Robert Frost, “A Girl’s Garden”, in Mountain Interval, New York: Henry Holt & Co, page 61
mistrust meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
mistrust in Hindi
- lack of trust
- संदेह sandeh, अविश्वास aviśvās
- to have no confidence in something
- संशय करना sañśay karnā
mistrust in Tamil
- அவநம்பிக்கை, ஐயப்பாடு, நம்பிக்கையின்மை, சந்தேகம்
mistrust in Urdu
- mistrust, doubt; uncertainty
- گمان gumān, سندیہہ sandeh
mistrust in Bengali
- অবিশ্বাস, সন্দেহ, সন্দেহ করা
More languagesFewer languages
- mistrust in Telugu
- అవిశ్వాసము aviśvāsamu
- mistrust in Malayalam
- സംശയിക്കുക, ശങ്കിക്കുക, അവിശ്വസിക്കുക
- mistrust in Kannada
- ಅಪನಂಬಿಕೆಪಡು, ಅಶ್ರದ್ಧೆತಾಳು, ಅವಿಶ್ವಾಸ ಹೊಂದು, ಅನುಮಾನಪಡು
- mistrust in Persian
- گمان داشتن gamân dâštan, ظن داشتن zann dâštan
Examples of mistrust in a sentence
- Her habitual lying was the reason for my mistrust.
- This has led to the deep-seated mistrust of soldiers who report sick or declare themselves unfit.
- The merchant of mistrust dismisses these words as hyperbole and remains grim, sullen, fearful.
Synonyms of mistrust
Antonyms
Forms of mistrust
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | mistrusts |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | mistrusts |
| present participle | mistrusting |
| past participle | mistrusted |
| past | mistrusted |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | mistrustest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | mistrustedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | mistrusteth |
Origin of mistrust
From Middle English mistrust; equivalent to mis- + trust.
Words formed from mistrust
Words that rhyme with mistrust
25 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about mistrust
- What does mistrust mean?
- Mistrust means lack of trust or confidence; distrust, untrust.
- What is mistrust in Hindi?
- Mistrust in Hindi is संदेह (sandeh), अविश्वास (aviśvās), संशय करना (sañśay karnā). See Mistrust meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is mistrust?
- Mistrust can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce mistrust?
- Mistrust is pronounced /mɪsˈtɹʌst/.
- What is the plural of mistrust?
- The plural of mistrust is mistrusts.
Words near mistrust in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mistrust (page history and authors); mistrust (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); سندیہہ (Urdu) (page history and authors); mistrust (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mistrust (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mistrust (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-mistrust.ogg.
Cite this entry: “mistrust.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mistrust. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.