Basic Details
Word: Distrustful
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Not trusting someone or something; expecting to be cheated or let down.
Synonyms: suspicious, wary, doubtful, sceptical
Antonyms: trusting, trustful, confident
How to Spell Distrustful
Syllables: dis - trust - ful
Tricky part: The ending is ful with a single l, not full, and the t of trust must stay before it (distrusful is a common slip).
Watch out for: distrustfull, distrusful, dystrustful, distrustfal
Memory tip: A person can be full of distrust, but the suffix only ever takes one l: dis + trust + ful.
Usage Examples
Example 1: After the cheating scandal, the fans became distrustful of the club's owners.
Example 2: The stray kitten was distrustful at first but soon ate from Meera's hand.
Example 3: Grandma is distrustful of any phone call that asks for her bank details.
Fun Fact
Distrust and mistrust mean almost the same thing. Some usage guides say distrust is the better choice when you have a definite reason for your doubt.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Only one of these words can take the prefix dis- to form a real word. Choose it.
dis-
a) trust
b) happy
c) kind
d) polite
Show answer
a) trust. Dis + trust gives distrust; happy and kind take un-, and polite takes im-.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
distrustfull
a) s
b) f
c) l
d) u
Show answer
c) l. The suffix ful has a single l, unlike the word full.
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to distrustful as used in the sentence:
Villagers were distrustful of the smooth-talking salesman who promised to double their savings in a month.
a) wary
b) sceptical
c) trusting
d) suspicious
Show answer
c) trusting. Being distrustful means doubting someone; trusting is the opposite, while the other three are near synonyms.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Someone who is distrustful tends to ____.
a) believe everyone
b) forget easily
c) doubt what others say
d) laugh often
Show answer
c) doubt what others say
2. Which prefix could replace dis- in distrustful without changing the meaning much?
a) mis-
b) over-
c) re-
d) pre-
Show answer
a) mis-
