trust

There may not be a substitute for trust in life, but there are a few different terms that can sometimes be used to replace the word.

Trust is a form of confidence. Saying that you have trust in someone is often the same as saying you have confidence in them or that you place your hope or faith in them. Trust is often a firm belief that someone or something won’t let you down.

Trust is also a verb meaning to have such confidence. To trust someone in this way is often to rely on, count on, depend on, or even believe in them. Having someone you can trust is having someone you can turn to.

When two people trust each other, they can be said to have a mutual trust.

The word trustworthiness is the noun form of the adjective trustworthy, which describes someone who has earned your trust. Someone who has trust in someone else can be described as trusting. Sometimes, this can imply that the person trusts others too easily. A similar (but less common) word is trustful.

As a verb, trust can also mean something like presume, as in I trust we won’t have any problems here.

A lack of trust is the absence of trust. Saying that there is a lack of trust may mean that there is no trust at all or that someone or something falls short of full trust.

The opposite of trust is distrust. (The word mistrust often means the same thing but is less commonly used.)

You may have doubts, misgivings, suspicions, or skepticism about someone or something that you distrust.