untrusting

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ʌnˈtrʌstɪŋ/ UK /ʌnˈtrʌstɪŋ/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
unwilling to trust; suspicious

Years of betrayal had left him untrusting of even his closest friends.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · unwilling to trust; suspicious suspicious distrustful wary mistrustful skeptical guarded leery

Opposites

trusting trustful credulous gullible

Word family

Related forms trust distrust mistrust untrustworthy

Etymology

From un- ('not') plus trusting, from trust, from Old Norse traust ('confidence, help'), from Proto-Germanic *traustą, ultimately from a root meaning 'firm, solid'.

un- Old English traust Old Norse *traustą Proto-Germanic

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Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# untrusting

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ʌnˈtrʌstɪŋ
**IPA (UK):** ʌnˈtrʌstɪŋ

## Meanings
1. unwilling to trust; suspicious

## Examples
- Years of betrayal had left him untrusting of even his closest friends.

## Synonyms
- suspicious
- distrustful
- wary
- mistrustful
- skeptical
- guarded
- leery

## Antonyms
- trusting
- trustful
- credulous
- gullible

## Related Forms
- trust
- distrust
- mistrust
- untrustworthy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: traust
- Root: *traustą

## Etymology
From un- ('not') plus trusting, from trust, from Old Norse traust ('confidence, help'), from Proto-Germanic *traustą, ultimately from a root meaning 'firm, solid'.

## AI Etymology
Untrusting comes from un- ('not') plus trusting, from trust, from Old Norse traust ('confidence, help'), from Proto-Germanic *traustą, ultimately from a root meaning 'firm, solid'. In current use it is an adjective meaning "unwilling to trust; suspicious". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The prefix un- is negative or privative, marking the absence, denial, or opposite of the base idea. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The historical chain includes Old English un-, Old Norse traust, and Proto-Germanic *traustą. Related English forms include trust, distrust, mistrust, and untrustworthy. As a result, the modern word is best read as a negative, privative, or reversative formation built on a historically older base.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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