Trustful and trusting person
April 21, 2013 7:41 PM Subscribe
When you use them as an adjective for a person. Could you tell me the difference between trustful and trusting? I think that "trustful" is outdated, but it's also possible to use interchangeably with trusty. Or does it only mean"tending to believe that other people are good."nowadays? How do you use them differently? Incidentally, can I say,"He's a believable person." like, "He is a trustworthy person."??
I don't think I've ever heard or seen the word "trustful" used. I have seen "trusting" often - and you're correct about it meaning someone who readily believes what others tell him or her. This is quite different from how I would use "trusty", which I would only use to describe a thing or person that I could rely upon, like a "trusty screwdriver" or "trusty sidekick". Then there's "trustworthy", which I generally see used only for people, and means that one can believe what they say.
I don't know if I've ever heard a person described as "believable" for that quality, or even applied to a person, although I can imagine that use and it doesn't sound odd (whereas using the word trustful would sound odd to me). However, the distinction between "believable" and "trustworthy" aside from what sninctown describes (where you find a person easy to believe whether or not they're telling the truth), to me, is that "trustworthy" would apply to a person's statements, while "believable" might apply to their entire existence. For example, people are frequently described as "unbelievable" when they behave well outside of cultural norms or extremely rudely. It describes behavior more than statements.
posted by LionIndex at 8:06 PM on April 21, 2013
I don't know if I've ever heard a person described as "believable" for that quality, or even applied to a person, although I can imagine that use and it doesn't sound odd (whereas using the word trustful would sound odd to me). However, the distinction between "believable" and "trustworthy" aside from what sninctown describes (where you find a person easy to believe whether or not they're telling the truth), to me, is that "trustworthy" would apply to a person's statements, while "believable" might apply to their entire existence. For example, people are frequently described as "unbelievable" when they behave well outside of cultural norms or extremely rudely. It describes behavior more than statements.
posted by LionIndex at 8:06 PM on April 21, 2013
I'm a native English speaker (American English) and I've never heard "trustful". I would say "trusting" is a weaker word for "credulous". "Trusty" means "reliable", which is a different idea altogether from "trusting".
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 8:26 PM on April 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 8:26 PM on April 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
Trusty means you trust them, trusting means they trust you. Trustful is a word I may have just met.
posted by box at 8:31 PM on April 21, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by box at 8:31 PM on April 21, 2013 [8 favorites]
"Believable" seems like a word used to describe someone most often when their believability is in doubt—as in, "He's believable enough" or "His story is believable." If you just want to describe a person in general, without implying the opposite, I'd go with "He's credible" or "He's trustworthy." "Trusty" kind of means "reliable" more than "trustworthy"; there's a slight difference in meaning there. And yeah, I don't hear "trustful" much, but it's more like "trusting," meaning that the person trusts others, rather than that others trust the person.
posted by limeonaire at 8:34 PM on April 21, 2013
posted by limeonaire at 8:34 PM on April 21, 2013
Best answer: "he is trusting" means he trusts other people; he believes what other people tell him. It usually seems to come up in the context of implying that the person might trust other people too much. For example: "I worry about my brother talking to strangers. He is very trusting and could fall for a scam."
"he is trustful" means the same thing as "he is trusting."
"trusty" means something different. It means "reliable" or "dependable." It can describe things as well as people. I wouldn't usually use it as a descriptor on its own; I wouldn't say "he/she is trusty." It's not incorrect, it's just not the common usage. I would say "he is a trusty guide," "she is my trusty assistant," or "I am carrying my trusty jack knife," for example.
"trusty" can also be a noun, a person who is given a role requiring a certain amount of trust within an institution. For example, a "trusty" in a jail would be an inmate who is entrusted with doing a certain job and may be given more privileges in exchange. This is a pretty specialized use of the word.
You can say "he is a believable person" but it's not a phrase I hear very often. I think more often you would say something like "his story was believable" and "he is a credible person." I think saying someone is "credible" or "trustworthy" implies a more general judgment of their character, that you can normally believe what they say or trust them to act in a responsible manner. "Believable" is usually a more specific judgment: a statement or story is believable, or an actor's performance as a specific character is believable. For example: "He gave a believable explanation of why he was late for work." Or: "Meryl Streep is believable in her portrayal of Julia Child."
posted by Orinda at 8:40 PM on April 21, 2013
"he is trustful" means the same thing as "he is trusting."
"trusty" means something different. It means "reliable" or "dependable." It can describe things as well as people. I wouldn't usually use it as a descriptor on its own; I wouldn't say "he/she is trusty." It's not incorrect, it's just not the common usage. I would say "he is a trusty guide," "she is my trusty assistant," or "I am carrying my trusty jack knife," for example.
"trusty" can also be a noun, a person who is given a role requiring a certain amount of trust within an institution. For example, a "trusty" in a jail would be an inmate who is entrusted with doing a certain job and may be given more privileges in exchange. This is a pretty specialized use of the word.
You can say "he is a believable person" but it's not a phrase I hear very often. I think more often you would say something like "his story was believable" and "he is a credible person." I think saying someone is "credible" or "trustworthy" implies a more general judgment of their character, that you can normally believe what they say or trust them to act in a responsible manner. "Believable" is usually a more specific judgment: a statement or story is believable, or an actor's performance as a specific character is believable. For example: "He gave a believable explanation of why he was late for work." Or: "Meryl Streep is believable in her portrayal of Julia Child."
posted by Orinda at 8:40 PM on April 21, 2013
Best answer: A trusting person is someone who trusts others. He or she generally believes what others say, trusts that other people have good intentions, etc. This word can be used either for a good trait (in contrast to being suspicious of others), or to describe a bad trait (being too trusting, or being gullible).
A trustworthy person is someone who is believable or who you can rely on. It is safe to tell secrets to this person, and to make a plan that depends on them playing a certain role, etc. It is safe to believe what they tell you, generally.
A trusty person or thing is reliable - my mental image for this word is a cowboy with his trusty horse. "Trusty" does not have the connotation of "what they say is believable", it is more about relying on the person/thing in a situation.
Believable is a bit of an odd word here. It is a familiar word and people would understand you, in using it, but it is not something one usually says about a person. It is more commonly said about a story or a statement. For example: "When Mary said that she had lost her homework because it was stolen, her story seemed farfetched. But when Sue told me she had forgotten her work at home, her story was much more believable."
The word 'trustful' isn't a word that's used. The word 'mistrustful' is, though - it means someone who is suspicious of others (not a trusting person). Maybe you are thinking you can just remove the 'mis' and then have a word, but this is one of the exceptions to that rule. There are a few words like this in English, where they seem to be a root word plus a prefix (or suffix), yet the seeming "root" word is not a real word. (Or at least, it is no longer used as a word by itself.) Another common example: overwhelm ("whelm" is not used today)
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:43 PM on April 21, 2013
A trustworthy person is someone who is believable or who you can rely on. It is safe to tell secrets to this person, and to make a plan that depends on them playing a certain role, etc. It is safe to believe what they tell you, generally.
A trusty person or thing is reliable - my mental image for this word is a cowboy with his trusty horse. "Trusty" does not have the connotation of "what they say is believable", it is more about relying on the person/thing in a situation.
Believable is a bit of an odd word here. It is a familiar word and people would understand you, in using it, but it is not something one usually says about a person. It is more commonly said about a story or a statement. For example: "When Mary said that she had lost her homework because it was stolen, her story seemed farfetched. But when Sue told me she had forgotten her work at home, her story was much more believable."
The word 'trustful' isn't a word that's used. The word 'mistrustful' is, though - it means someone who is suspicious of others (not a trusting person). Maybe you are thinking you can just remove the 'mis' and then have a word, but this is one of the exceptions to that rule. There are a few words like this in English, where they seem to be a root word plus a prefix (or suffix), yet the seeming "root" word is not a real word. (Or at least, it is no longer used as a word by itself.) Another common example: overwhelm ("whelm" is not used today)
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:43 PM on April 21, 2013
Also, what Orinda says about trusty and believable/credible seems exactly right to me.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:45 PM on April 21, 2013
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:45 PM on April 21, 2013
To me, a "trustful" person is someone you/others can trust; a "trusting" person is one who trusts you/others.
posted by aryma at 9:00 PM on April 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by aryma at 9:00 PM on April 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
Another good word here is "credible", which means something similar to "believable" in this context but lacks the connotation of unreliability that "believable" has. To me, if a story is believable it is one that sounds reasonable but which I have some lingering skepticism about. If a story is credible, then it can be relied upon as true.
posted by Scientist at 9:34 PM on April 21, 2013
posted by Scientist at 9:34 PM on April 21, 2013
Yes, "trusty" is approximately "credible", and "trusting" is approximately "credulous". Except with added Anglo-Saxon goodness.
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 9:40 PM on April 21, 2013
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 9:40 PM on April 21, 2013
Yes, "trusty" is approximately "credible"
I don't really think so. I'd say "trustworthy" is approximately "credible", and that both those words have to do with whether a person says things that are true or false.
"Trusty" means that I can rely on something in ways that aren't measured on truth.
posted by LionIndex at 10:00 PM on April 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
I don't really think so. I'd say "trustworthy" is approximately "credible", and that both those words have to do with whether a person says things that are true or false.
"Trusty" means that I can rely on something in ways that aren't measured on truth.
posted by LionIndex at 10:00 PM on April 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
"Trusty" means that I can rely on something in ways that aren't measured on truth.
"Credible" as "believable" can have a broader meaning than having to do with "true" and "false": "credible" can mean "understandable in that particular role", like a "that makes a credible hammer"; but you're right, they are slightly different.
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 10:51 PM on April 21, 2013
"Credible" as "believable" can have a broader meaning than having to do with "true" and "false": "credible" can mean "understandable in that particular role", like a "that makes a credible hammer"; but you're right, they are slightly different.
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 10:51 PM on April 21, 2013
Both "trustful" and "trusty" are rarely used in modern colloquial english. (Which may explain why you're getting wildly conflicting definitions for them here! English speakers don't use those words often or at all, so we don't have a clear idea of what they mean without referring to a dictionary.)
These days "trusty" is hardly ever used in its primary definition (reliable, worthy of trust) -- its secondary jailhouse definition is more common, and has some very negative connotations: a turncoat, someone who would sell out his fellow prisoners in exchange for special privileges from their captors. If they don't intend those connotations, english speakers would be much more likely to use the words "reliable" or "trustworthy" instead of "trusty". The only times I've ever heard the word used in its original sense are when someone is speaking deliberately archaically: "My trusty sword shall slay the dragon!" sort of thing.
"Trustful" I don't think I've ever heard used. The dictionary says it means "having trust in someone else" -- therefore not interchangeable with "trusty" -- but I think in nearly all colloquial english someone would just say "trusting" instead (or else "credulous" or "gullible", if they want to include a connotation of foolishness.)
Incidentally, can I say,"He's a believable person." like, "He is a trustworthy person."?
Not really. A "trustworthy person" clearly means "someone who can be trusted". A "believable person" is a more ambiguous phrase; depending on context it might be interpreted as anything from "he can be trusted" to "he is a really good liar" (as in, "he can say anything and people will believe it.")
posted by ook at 8:33 AM on April 22, 2013
These days "trusty" is hardly ever used in its primary definition (reliable, worthy of trust) -- its secondary jailhouse definition is more common, and has some very negative connotations: a turncoat, someone who would sell out his fellow prisoners in exchange for special privileges from their captors. If they don't intend those connotations, english speakers would be much more likely to use the words "reliable" or "trustworthy" instead of "trusty". The only times I've ever heard the word used in its original sense are when someone is speaking deliberately archaically: "My trusty sword shall slay the dragon!" sort of thing.
"Trustful" I don't think I've ever heard used. The dictionary says it means "having trust in someone else" -- therefore not interchangeable with "trusty" -- but I think in nearly all colloquial english someone would just say "trusting" instead (or else "credulous" or "gullible", if they want to include a connotation of foolishness.)
Incidentally, can I say,"He's a believable person." like, "He is a trustworthy person."?
Not really. A "trustworthy person" clearly means "someone who can be trusted". A "believable person" is a more ambiguous phrase; depending on context it might be interpreted as anything from "he can be trusted" to "he is a really good liar" (as in, "he can say anything and people will believe it.")
posted by ook at 8:33 AM on April 22, 2013
Pretty sure the legal use of trusty is trustee. I use "trusty" all the time, archaic my ass.
Trustful to me would imply someone is a sucker. Gullible. But I can't say as to having seen it before.
posted by hobo gitano de queretaro at 9:15 AM on April 22, 2013
Trustful to me would imply someone is a sucker. Gullible. But I can't say as to having seen it before.
posted by hobo gitano de queretaro at 9:15 AM on April 22, 2013
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Trustful = same as trusting, but to me sounds less strong and less modern
To your last question, I'd say yes, either is correct to say, though believable implies that he comes across as believable but does not mean he actually is trustworthy.
posted by sninctown at 7:48 PM on April 21, 2013 [1 favorite]