Library / English Dictionary

DISTRUST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The trait of not trusting others

Synonyms:

distrust; distrustfulness; mistrust

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("distrust" is a kind of...):

trait (a distinguishing feature of your personal nature)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "distrust"):

suspicion; suspiciousness (being of a suspicious nature)

Antonym:

trust (the trait of believing in the honesty and reliability of others)

Derivation:

distrust (regard as untrustworthy; regard with suspicion; have no faith or confidence in)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Doubt about someone's honesty

Synonyms:

distrust; misgiving; mistrust; suspicion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("distrust" is a kind of...):

doubt; doubtfulness; dubiety; dubiousness; incertitude; uncertainty (the state of being unsure of something)

Derivation:

distrust (regard as untrustworthy; regard with suspicion; have no faith or confidence in)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Regard as untrustworthy; regard with suspicion; have no faith or confidence in

Synonyms:

distrust; mistrust; suspect

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "distrust" is one way to...):

disbelieve; discredit (reject as false; refuse to accept)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distrust"):

doubt (lack confidence in or have doubts about)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want to distrust the prisoners

Antonym:

trust (have confidence or faith in)

Derivation:

distrust (the trait of not trusting others)

distrust (doubt about someone's honesty)

Credits

 Context examples: 

That time, however, did gradually come, forwarded by an affection on his side as warm as her own, and much less encumbered by refinement or self-distrust.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

This one half-hour had given to each the same precious certainty of being beloved, had cleared from each the same degree of ignorance, jealousy, or distrust.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

She thought of what had just passed with anxiety and distrust.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Everybody declared that he was the wickedest young man in the world; and everybody began to find out that they had always distrusted the appearance of his goodness.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Obviously the business was a bad one, and one of the men who distrusted the other was determined that, whatever was done, each should have an equal hand in it.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My dear, please Almighty God, your life may be all it promises: a long day of sunshine, with no harsh wind, no forgetting duty, no distrust.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It was a bold surmise, for he was Isabella's brother; and she had been assured by James that his manners would recommend him to all her sex; but in spite of this, the extreme weariness of his company, which crept over her before they had been out an hour, and which continued unceasingly to increase till they stopped in Pulteney Street again, induced her, in some small degree, to resist such high authority, and to distrust his powers of giving universal pleasure.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

While she busied herself in finding and folding them, Alleyne Edricson stood by the open door looking in at her with much interest and some distrust, for he had never been so nigh to a woman before.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For the parents who had taught one child to meet death without fear, were trying now to teach another to accept life without despondency or distrust, and to use its beautiful opportunities with gratitude and power.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that he is one who should be deeply distrusted.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)