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
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
The level of distrust and tension between the U.S. and Israeli governments marks an extraordinary shift from the bear hug Biden and Netanyahu shared five months ago shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack.
—Josh Feldman, NBC News, 18 Mar. 2024
For many, the jumble of emotions was complicated by others’ distrust for public health institutions.
—Jenna Portnoy, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024
Of course, there have long been attempts at political interference in academia, with a distrust of elitism smoldering beneath the widespread disdain for the ivory tower.
—Pamela Paul, The Mercury News, 15 Mar. 2024
But that hasn’t fundamentally changed the dynamics of outbreaks; the distrust of the outsiders who come to try to extinguish Ebola’s spread remains, Sprecher said.
—Helen Branswell, STAT, 14 Mar. 2024
Sara Miller Llana/The Christian Science Monitor Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe, shown here in her office, is worried about recent polling that shows growing distrust about the pace of immigration in Canada.
—Sara Miller Llana, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Mar. 2024
While still a county commissioner, Griffin joined with Republican colleagues in refusing to certify results of the June 2022 primary election based on distrust of the voting systems used to tally the vote, even though the county's election official said there were no problems.
—Compiled Bydemocrat-Gazette Stafffrom Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 19 Mar. 2024
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
The authority is widely distrusted by most Palestinians and seen as corrupt by foes and some friends alike.
—Raja Khalidi, Foreign Affairs, 19 Mar. 2024
Lynch’s is arguably more faithful to the word, despite ignoring the author’s central theme of distrusting charismatic leaders.
—Max Evry, WIRED, 4 Mar. 2024
Employees reported that the turbulence left the toll of feeling stressed, anxious, burned out and distrusting of their employers.
—Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2024
Noun
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
The level of distrust and tension between the U.S. and Israeli governments marks an extraordinary shift from the bear hug Biden and Netanyahu shared five months ago shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack.
—Josh Feldman, NBC News, 18 Mar. 2024
For many, the jumble of emotions was complicated by others’ distrust for public health institutions.
—Jenna Portnoy, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024
Of course, there have long been attempts at political interference in academia, with a distrust of elitism smoldering beneath the widespread disdain for the ivory tower.
—Pamela Paul, The Mercury News, 15 Mar. 2024
But that hasn’t fundamentally changed the dynamics of outbreaks; the distrust of the outsiders who come to try to extinguish Ebola’s spread remains, Sprecher said.
—Helen Branswell, STAT, 14 Mar. 2024
Sara Miller Llana/The Christian Science Monitor Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe, shown here in her office, is worried about recent polling that shows growing distrust about the pace of immigration in Canada.
—Sara Miller Llana, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Mar. 2024
While still a county commissioner, Griffin joined with Republican colleagues in refusing to certify results of the June 2022 primary election based on distrust of the voting systems used to tally the vote, even though the county's election official said there were no problems.
—Compiled Bydemocrat-Gazette Stafffrom Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 19 Mar. 2024
Verb
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
The authority is widely distrusted by most Palestinians and seen as corrupt by foes and some friends alike.
—Raja Khalidi, Foreign Affairs, 19 Mar. 2024
Lynch’s is arguably more faithful to the word, despite ignoring the author’s central theme of distrusting charismatic leaders.
—Max Evry, WIRED, 4 Mar. 2024
Employees reported that the turbulence left the toll of feeling stressed, anxious, burned out and distrusting of their employers.
—Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 10 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 18 Apr. 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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