Mistrustful Meaning
/mɪˈstrʌstfəl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjHaving mistrust, lacking trust (in someone or something).
adjExpressing or showing a lack of trust.
Sentence Examples
I'm not mistrustful; I'm simply cautious.
Tom is becoming more mistrustful.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old ____ dog refused to take any food from the friendly stranger.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
After being lied to several times by his colleagues, Mark became very ____ of any new information he received in the office.
Word Origin & History
From mistrust + -ful.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] I hold it cowardice
To rest mistrustful where a noble heart
Hath pawn’d an open hand in sign of love;"
— c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
"In the passage I met the nurse. She greeted me with a little smile; but I was mistrustful of professional cheerfulness that night."
— 1910, Ian Hay, The Right Stuff, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Book Two, Chapter Sixteen, p. 284:
"He lookt askew with his mistrustfull eyes,
And nycely trode, as thornes lay in his way"
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 579:
"At last, having held a document before her glasses for nearly five minutes, she presented it across the counter; accompanying the act by another inquisitive and mistrustful glance—it was for J. E."
— 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter X, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 160:
"He led the way to the stable-yard accordingly, the Rat following with a most mistrustful expression […]"
— 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, chapter 2, in The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old ____ dog refused to take any food from the friendly stranger.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
After being lied to several times by his colleagues, Mark became very ____ of any new information he received in the office.