distrustful
adjective C2
Plain meaning
not willing to trust someone or something
Exam-register meaning
In formal or high-level texts, it is used to describe not willing to trust someone or something, often with a precise or specialised tone.
In context
naturalHis response sounded distrustful, so the conversation became difficult.
examThe passage presents a distrustful assessment of the policy’s wider consequences.
Common collocations
a distrustful responsedistrustful behavioura distrustful situation
Watch out
Do not use “very distrustful” automatically; some advanced adjectives already carry a strong meaning or need a more natural intensifier.
Word family
distrustfulness (noun, where natural)distrustfully (adverb, where natural)