mistrustful

adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"mistrustful" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mistrustful” is uncommon English (frequency #89,642 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#89,642
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Having mistrust, lacking trust (in someone or something).

Corpus desk

Index EN-mistrustful · mistrustful · English

mistrustful · rank #89,642 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #89,642
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH mistranslation

Nearest frequency peer: mistranslation (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “mistrustful”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “mistrustful” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for mistrustful
PropertyValue
Headwordmistrustful
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters11
Frequency rank#89,642
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mistrustful” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).mistrustfullands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “mistranslation” (#89,641), “Mnangagwa” (#89,643), “misapplied” (#89,639). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

mistrustful is uncommon English at frequency #89,642 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for mistrustful, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From mistrust + -ful. The correct English form is mistrustful, spelled M-I-S-T-R-U-S-T-F-U-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Having mistrust, lacking trust (in someone or something).
  2. 2
    Expressing or showing a lack of trust.
  3. 3
    Having a suspicion, imagining or supposing (that something undesirable is the case).
  4. 4
    Causing mistrust, suspicions, or forebodings.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how mistrustful appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. […] I hold it cowardice To rest mistrustful where a noble heart Hath pawn’d an open hand in sign of love;
  2. In the passage I met the nurse. She greeted me with a little smile; but I was mistrustful of professional cheerfulness that night.

Etymology

From mistrust + -ful.

Synonyms

distrustfulsuspiciousuntrustingwary

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mistrustful"?
"mistrustful" is spelled M-I-S-T-R-U-S-T-F-U-L.
What does "mistrustful" mean?
As an adjective, "mistrustful" means: Having mistrust, lacking trust (in someone or something).
What is the origin of the word "mistrustful"?
From mistrust + -ful. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mistrustful", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

moneylender#89,648Kazakhstani#89,516porterhouse#89,779jeopardised#89,503

What to do next

You've looked up "mistrustful". Here's where to go from here.

  • Usage frequency rank #89,642 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "M" letter cohort. M–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list