distrusted; distrusting; distrusts
: to have no trust or confidence in
Synonyms
Examples of distrust in a Sentence
Noun
He has a distrust of doctors.
the psychic's bold claims were greeted with distrust and outright scorn
Verb
She's always distrusted their promises.
we instinctively distrust those phone calls that tell us we have won a free vacation or car
Recent Examples on the Web
Lisa Jarvis, Twin Cities, 19 Apr. 2024
The war cabinet discussions are shrouded in secrecy and riven by old rivalries and distrust.
—Russell Goldman, New York Times, 16 Apr. 2024
Populist sentiment and distrust of institutions is growing.
—Krista Kafer, The Denver Post, 16 Apr. 2024
Their distrust of Iran was part of what brought them together.
—Tony Capaccio, Fortune, 14 Apr. 2024
And in a key role as a pub regular, Trevor Fox makes palpable the injury and distrust that can warp an honest reaction to a stranger’s struggles.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
This distrust in healthcare often stems from misaligned motivations of stakeholders.
—Seth Joseph, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Much of the internet now disagrees on basic facts, a phenomenon exacerbated by intensifying political polarization, distrust of institutions such as news and academia as well as the rise of artificial intelligence and other technologies that can warp people’s perception of truth.
—Tiffany Hsu, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
With Kate out of the spotlight and Kensington Palace refusing to comment on the authenticity or recency of photos of the princess that have appeared in the press, distrust in the royal family has grown.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 20 Mar. 2024
Olivia Rinaldi, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2024
Broken feedback loop Many Tesla veterans distrust mainstream media, believing coverage has been consistently unfair, and suspect much is the result of rival automakers buying negative headlines with their advertising dollars.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024
The President spoke at a podium flanked by a good part of his cabinet, including his attorney general and the defense minister—figures the parents distrusted.
—Alma Guillermoprieto, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
His message of democracy, unity, and resistance to occupation is resonating today with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who are under attack, who distrust their autocratic leadership, and who would vote for him if given the chance.
—Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Apr. 2024
Chambers describes his father as the family’s original black sheep and credits him as the person who first taught him to hate cops and distrust the wealthy.
—David Peisner, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024
The early rapport between Cassie and the girls purposefully comes off as stiff and distrusting, with each of them treating one another with an arm’s length kind of attitude.
—Jeff Conway, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024
His message of democracy, unity, and resistance to occupation increasingly resonates today with Palestinians who are under attack, distrust their leadership, and would vote for him if given the chance.
—Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Apr. 2024
Some of Hoover’s friends and colleagues have come to distrust her over time.
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024
Noun
Another recent study, from researchers at Duke University Medical Center, found distrust in health care providers to be a common theme in the top 100 videos tagged with #IUD, which had 471 million views and 1 million shares.
—Lisa Jarvis, Twin Cities, 19 Apr. 2024
The war cabinet discussions are shrouded in secrecy and riven by old rivalries and distrust.
—Russell Goldman, New York Times, 16 Apr. 2024
Populist sentiment and distrust of institutions is growing.
—Krista Kafer, The Denver Post, 16 Apr. 2024
Their distrust of Iran was part of what brought them together.
—Tony Capaccio, Fortune, 14 Apr. 2024
And in a key role as a pub regular, Trevor Fox makes palpable the injury and distrust that can warp an honest reaction to a stranger’s struggles.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
This distrust in healthcare often stems from misaligned motivations of stakeholders.
—Seth Joseph, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Much of the internet now disagrees on basic facts, a phenomenon exacerbated by intensifying political polarization, distrust of institutions such as news and academia as well as the rise of artificial intelligence and other technologies that can warp people’s perception of truth.
—Tiffany Hsu, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
With Kate out of the spotlight and Kensington Palace refusing to comment on the authenticity or recency of photos of the princess that have appeared in the press, distrust in the royal family has grown.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 20 Mar. 2024
Verb
Trump has opposed early, absentee and mail voting for years, blaming the practices for election fraud and conditioning voters to distrust those methods.
—Olivia Rinaldi, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2024
Broken feedback loop Many Tesla veterans distrust mainstream media, believing coverage has been consistently unfair, and suspect much is the result of rival automakers buying negative headlines with their advertising dollars.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024
The President spoke at a podium flanked by a good part of his cabinet, including his attorney general and the defense minister—figures the parents distrusted.
—Alma Guillermoprieto, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
His message of democracy, unity, and resistance to occupation is resonating today with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who are under attack, who distrust their autocratic leadership, and who would vote for him if given the chance.
—Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Apr. 2024
Chambers describes his father as the family’s original black sheep and credits him as the person who first taught him to hate cops and distrust the wealthy.
—David Peisner, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024
The early rapport between Cassie and the girls purposefully comes off as stiff and distrusting, with each of them treating one another with an arm’s length kind of attitude.
—Jeff Conway, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024
His message of democracy, unity, and resistance to occupation increasingly resonates today with Palestinians who are under attack, distrust their leadership, and would vote for him if given the chance.
—Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Apr. 2024
Some of Hoover’s friends and colleagues have come to distrust her over time.
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'distrust.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near distrust
Cite this Entry
“Distrust.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/distrust. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
distrust
1 of 2 verb
dis·trust
(ˈ)dis-ˈtrəst 
: to have no trust or confidence in
distrust
2 of 2 noun
: a lack of trust or confidence
distrustful
adjective
-fəl
distrustfully
adverb
-fə-lē
distrustfulness
noun
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