Adjacent Words

Distrust definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DISTRUST, v.t. [dis and trust. See Mistrust.]
1. To doubt or suspect the truth, fidelity, firmness or sincerity of; not to confide in or rely on. We distrust a man, when we question his veracity, etc. We may often distrust our own firmness.
2. To doubt; to suspect not to be real, true, sincere or firm. We distrust a mans courage, friendship, veracity, declarations, intentions or promises, when we question their reality or sincerity. We cannot distrust the declarations of God. We often have reason to distrust our own resolutions.
DISTRUST, n.
1. Doubt or suspicion of reality or sincerity; want of confidence, faith or reliance. Sycophants should be heard with distrust. Distrust mars the pleasures of friendship and social intercourse.
2. Discredit; loss of confidence.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: doubt about someone's honesty [syn: misgiving, mistrust, distrust, suspicion]
2: the trait of not trusting others [syn: distrust, distrustfulness, mistrust] [ant: trust, trustfulness, trustingness] v
1: regard as untrustworthy; regard with suspicion; have no faith or confidence in [syn: distrust, mistrust, suspect] [ant: bank, rely, swear, trust]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Date: 1513 the lack or absence of trust II. transitive verb Date: 1548 to have no trust or confidence in

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. a lack of trust; doubt; suspicion. --v.tr. have no trust or confidence in; doubt. Derivatives: distruster n. distrustful adj. distrustfully adv.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Distrust Dis*trust", n. 1. Doubt of sufficiency, reality, or sincerity; want of confidence, faith, or reliance; as, distrust of one's power, authority, will, purposes, schemes, etc. 2. Suspicion of evil designs. Alienation and distrust . . . are the growth of false principles. --D. Webster. 3. State of being suspected; loss of trust. --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Distrust Dis*trust", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Distrusted; p. pr. & vb. n. Distrusting.] [Cf. Mistrust.] To feel absence of trust in; not to confide in or rely upon; to deem of questionable sufficiency or reality; to doubt; to be suspicious of; to mistrust. Not distrusting my health. --2 Mac. ix. 22. To distrust the justice of your cause. --Dryden. He that requireth the oath doth distrust that other. --Udall. Of all afraid, Distrusting all, a wise, suspicious maid. --Collins. Note: Mistrust has been almost wholly driven out by distrust. --T. L. K. Oliphant.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(distrusts, distrusting, distrusted) 1. If you distrust someone or something, you think they are not honest, reliable, or safe. I don't have any particular reason to distrust them. = mistrust ? trust VERB: V n 2. Distrust is the feeling of doubt that you have towards someone or something you distrust. What he saw there left him with a profound distrust of all political authority. = mistrust N-UNCOUNT: also a N, oft N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Doubt, suspect, lack confidence in, mistrust, disbelieve in. II. n. Suspicion, misgiving, doubt, mistrust, want of confidence.

Moby Thesaurus

Pyrrhonism, apprehension, awake a doubt, be diffident, be doubtful, be dubious, be possessive, be skeptical, be uncertain, cageyness, call in question, caution, challenge, chariness, contest, diffidence, disbelief, disbelieve, discredit, dispute, distrustfulness, doubt, doubtfulness, dubiety, dubiousness, greet with skepticism, half believe, half-belief, harbor suspicions, have reservations, hesitancy, hesitation, incredulity, leeriness, misdoubt, misgive, misgiving, mistrust, mistrustfulness, qualm, query, question, raise a question, scepticism, scruple, scrupulousness, self-doubt, shadow of doubt, skepticalness, skepticism, smell a rat, suspect, suspicion, suspiciousness, throw doubt upon, total skepticism, treat with reserve, unbelieve, uncertainty, wariness