Definition of MISTRUSTED

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Noun

uncertainty, doubt, dubiety, skepticism, suspicion, mistrust mean lack of sureness about someone or something. uncertainty may range from a falling short of certainty to an almost complete lack of conviction or knowledge especially about an outcome or result. assumed the role of manager without hesitation or uncertainty doubt suggests both uncertainty and inability to make a decision. plagued by doubts as to what to do dubiety stresses a wavering between conclusions. felt some dubiety about its practicality skepticism implies unwillingness to believe without conclusive evidence. an economic forecast greeted with skepticism suspicion stresses lack of faith in the truth, reality, fairness, or reliability of something or someone. regarded the stranger with suspicion mistrust implies a genuine doubt based upon suspicion. had a great mistrust of doctors

Examples of mistrust in a Sentence

Noun She has a strong mistrust of politicians. had an unfortunate mistrust of doctors, so her medical condition was allowed to worsen Verb I was starting to mistrust my own judgment. a recluse who mistrusts her neighbors and stays in her house all day

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun But the seeds of mistrust go back to 2003 and the administration’s attempted introduction of Article 23—a law that sought to outlaw speech, assemblies, and political activities jeopardizing Chinese national security. — Brian Wong, Time, "'One Country, Two Systems' Is Still the Best Model for Hong Kong, But It Badly Needs Reform," 30 Oct. 2019 Denver Sheriff Patrick Firman’s resignation this week culminated years of mistrust from deputies and community activists who said that was the price of filling the position with a man who was never the right person for the job. — The Denver Post, "Post Premium: Our best stories for the week of Sept. 9-15," 15 Sep. 2019 Opponents of such a meeting, in both countries, remain vocal, reflecting the history of mistrust that has shaped relations since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. — Farnaz Fassihi, New York Times, "In Iran’s Hierarchy, Talks With Trump Are Now Seen as Inevitable," 29 Aug. 2019 But agreement meant crossing ice-sheets of mistrust. — The Economist, "Reagan and Gorbachev’s tantalising nuclear talks in Reykjavik," 15 Aug. 2019 The bar also received a complaint Wednesday from a woman in New Jersey who expressed mistrust of Isaak over how the governor’s office handled her request for judicial records. — Hillary Borrud | The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, "Former Oregon lawmaker files bar complaint against Gov. Kate Brown’s top lawyer over public records pressure," 11 Sep. 2019 Thanks to Henry Ford's deep mistrust of Wall Street, there remains a special class of Ford stock that can only be held by Ford family members. — Peter Valdes-dapena, CNN, "Ford CEO: We were disrupting the auto industry long before Elon Musk," 7 Aug. 2019 The situation has been compounded by deadly violence against health care workers and mistrust of outside medical authorities. — Tanya Lewis, Scientific American, "Why the WHO’s Emergency Declaration for Ebola Is a Big Deal," 23 July 2019 Immigration reform advocates said the raids would tear apart families and sow further mistrust of the government. — Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY, "ICE raids to begin Sunday in Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Houston and other major cities," 14 July 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Surveys have found that they are deeply mistrusted by the public, often seen as doing the political bidding of whoever is in power. — BostonGlobe.com, "Crusading reformer divides South Koreans - The Boston Globe," 13 Oct. 2019 Many in the party doubt that anyone can beat Johnson, a quick-witted, Latin-spouting extrovert admired for his ability to connect with voters, but mistrusted for his erratic performance, and record of inaccurate and sometimes offensive comments. — Jill Lawless, USA TODAY, "UK Prime Minister race down to the final four, and Boris Johnson is the standout leader," 19 June 2019 Heller, a moderate, is mistrusted by the states’ hardline Trump supporters and has a fraught relationship with the president. — Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, "Fox News Power Rankings: Dean Heller, survivalist," 19 Sep. 2018 People mistrust giving their information to the federal government even though your Census information is secured and protected by law. — al, "Alabama is poised to lose 1 congressional seat. Could it lose 2?," 1 Sep. 2019 Espionage and intelligence are so conducive to mistrust that the people who make the best use of them tend to be the most equable and disinclined to suspicion. — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, "Are Spies More Trouble Than They’re Worth?," 26 Aug. 2019 The European Union is too disunited, China too widely mistrusted. — Los Angeles Times, "Column: The global economy is slipping toward recession — and Trump is making it worse," 25 Aug. 2019 The weakest link in that triangle is between Seoul and Tokyo, who deeply mistrust one another due to the legacy of Japan's colonization of Korea. — Joshua Berlinger, CNN, "North Korea and China are huge winners in the worsening Japan-South Korea spat," 23 Aug. 2019 Even people who typically mistrust the violent deputies of state power fantasize that the state might, for once, deploy them for the purpose of righting a catastrophic wrong. — Sam Adler-bell, The New Republic, "Don’t Give the Government More Power to Fight White Terrorism," 7 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mistrust.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

13 Nov 2019

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“Mistrust.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mistrusted. Accessed 22 November 2019.