Meaning & use
untrustworthiness
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Meanings
noununcountableformal
The quality of not being able to be trusted or relied on.
Grammar: Uncountable; it has no plural and is not used with a/an.
Patterns
- the untrustworthiness of someone
- someone's untrustworthiness
The report criticized the untrustworthiness of the company's financial statements.
Her untrustworthiness became clear when she failed to keep several important promises.
Voters were concerned about the untrustworthiness of the candidate's claims.
noununcountabletechnical
The state of being likely to fail or give incorrect results.
Grammar: Uncountable; used mainly about systems, data, or evidence.
Patterns
- the untrustworthiness of something
Engineers studied the untrustworthiness of the old bridge's sensors.
The untrustworthiness of the data made the study hard to evaluate.
Common combinations
- the untrustworthiness of someone
- The untrustworthiness of the witness damaged the case.
- general untrustworthiness
- His general untrustworthiness made him a poor choice for the job.
- perceived untrustworthiness
- The brand suffered from perceived untrustworthiness after the scandal.
- untrustworthiness of the data
- Scientists warned about the untrustworthiness of the data.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unreliability
- This is a more general word for not being dependable; it can describe machines and people, while untrustworthiness usually suggests a moral or deliberate failure.
- dishonesty
- This focuses on telling lies or cheating, whereas untrustworthiness can also come from carelessness or weakness.
Opposites
Word family
- untrustworthy adjective
- Not able to be trusted.
- trustworthy adjective
- Able to be trusted.
- trustworthiness noun
- The quality of being able to be trusted.
Commonly confused: untrustworthiness or distrust?
untrustworthiness vs distrust
Distrust is a feeling or verb meaning you do not trust someone; untrustworthiness is the quality that makes someone hard to trust.
Practice
Which sentence uses untrustworthiness correctly?
Choose one answer.
Untrustworthiness means the quality of not being able to be trusted, so lying to a boss fits. Option 1 is wrong because returning money is a trustworthy act. Option 2 is wrong because an untrustworthy plan would not make people support it. Option 3 is wrong because untrustworthiness would not make people trust someone.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “untrustworthiness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.