distrusted; distrusting; distrusts
: to have no trust or confidence in
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
Drew Bernstein, Forbes.com, 17 July 2025
Many of the former at one time leveraged the distrust many Americans feel toward our government to gain attention and increase their standing in MAGA’s hierarchy by hyping the Epstein conspiracy.
—Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 17 July 2025
Brent Gleeson, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025
Faithful readers of this column will recognize these titles and understand: Moviegoing is now a matter of following one’s desires and distrusting the lying press.
—Armond White, National Review, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for distrust
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Noun
To achieve that goal, China will need to overcome several obstacles, including bottlenecks in the semiconductor industry, winning the talent wars when many AI researchers will prefer to work for labs in the U.S. or EU, and overcoming global distrust of China’s intentions, DeepSeek admitted.
—Drew Bernstein, Forbes.com, 17 July 2025
Many of the former at one time leveraged the distrust many Americans feel toward our government to gain attention and increase their standing in MAGA’s hierarchy by hyping the Epstein conspiracy.
—Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 17 July 2025
Verb
Competing priorities—especially those coming from different functional leads—create friction, burnout, and eventually distrust.
—Brent Gleeson, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025
Faithful readers of this column will recognize these titles and understand: Moviegoing is now a matter of following one’s desires and distrusting the lying press.
—Armond White, National Review, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for distrust
Cite this Entry
“Distrust.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/distrust. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.
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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