Meaning & use
trust
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Meanings
noununcountable
A feeling that someone or something is honest, reliable or capable, so you do not expect to be let down.
Grammar: Usually uncountable and often followed by in: trust in friends.
Patterns
- trust in someone
- trust between people
- have trust in something
Trust takes years to build and seconds to lose.
She has complete trust in her doctor.
There is little trust between the two teams.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To believe that someone or something is honest, reliable or safe.
Grammar: Takes an object, or in with a more abstract target: trust him; trust in luck.
Patterns
- trust someone
- trust someone to do something
- trust in something
I trust my neighbor to water the plants.
You should not trust everything you read online.
Trust me, this will work.
nouncountablelegalfinance
A legal arrangement in which a person or organization holds money or property for the benefit of others.
Grammar: Countable in this sense: set up a trust.
Patterns
- trust for someone
- hold something in trust
Her grandparents set up a trust for her education.
The land is held in trust for the community.
Word forms
| plural | trusts |
|---|---|
| third person singular | trusts |
| past tense | trusted |
| past participle | trusted |
| -ing form | trusting |
Common combinations
- build trust
- Honest answers build trust with customers.
- breach of trust
- Sharing the secret was a breach of trust.
- trust fund
- He lives off a trust fund.
- blind trust
- Do not put blind trust in a single source.
- trust your instincts
- Trust your instincts when something feels wrong.
Synonyms and how they differ
- confidence
- Confidence is a belief that something will work or someone will perform well, but is not always about honesty.
- faith
- Faith is trust that does not need proof and often has a religious tone.
- rely on
- Rely on stresses depending on someone to act, while trust is about belief in their character.
Opposites
Word family
- trustworthy adjective
- deserving trust
- trusting adjective
- willing to trust others
- distrust noun
- lack of trust
- trustee noun
- person who manages a trust
Commonly confused: trust or trussed?
trust vs trussed
Trussed means tied up tightly and sounds nearly the same as trust in quick speech.
Practice
I have complete trust ______ my doctor.
Choose one answer.
Trust in is the standard pattern for the noun. On and for are not used this way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “trust”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.