misstrauische

Misstrauische is a form of the German adjective misstrauisch, meaning suspicious or mistrustful. It describes a tendency to doubt others’ reliability, to be wary, or to withhold trust. The concept is used for people, attitudes, or behaviors that show caution and a guarded outlook rather than open confidence.

Etymology and meaning: misstrauisch combines the prefix mis- with trauen (to trust), creating the sense of not trusting. The word can refer to a general disposition or a specific reaction to a situation. Its attributive form misstrauische occurs when the adjective is directly before a noun and must be declined according to gender and number.

Grammar and usage: misstrauische is the form used for feminine singular, neuter singular, and plural when placed before a noun, as in eine misstrauische Person, das misstrauische Verhalten, or die misstrauischen Blicke. In masculine singular after a definite article you would typically see misstrauischer, for example der misstrauische Mann. Predicatively, the short form is used: Er ist misstrauisch. The plain base adjective misstrauisch is more common in some constructions, while misstrauische appears in many attributive phrases.

Examples of common collocations include misstrauische Blicke, misstrauisches Verhalten, misstrauische Haltung. The term conveys a negative nuance, signaling caution or reluctance to trust, but it is less loaded than words like verdächtig or verdacht, and it can appear in neutral descriptive or literary contexts as well as in journalistic prose.

See also: mistrust, distrust, misstrauen, Verdacht.