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Such as:

  1. "I'm going back to the clubhouse; there are trusty people there."
  2. "I'm going back to the clubhouse; there are trustworthy people there."

Trusty

  • Definition: having served for a long time and regarded as reliable or faithful.
  • Synonyms: reliable, dependable, trustworthy

Trustworthy

  • Definition: able to be relied on as honest or truthful
  • Synonyms: reliable, dependable, honest

They appear to share many synonyms as well as the idea of reliability. The use of "trusty" is archaic and and seems almost comical now, but why is "trusty sidekick" acceptable, and why is "trusty person" not?

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    No. Go with example 2. – Mark Hubbard Jan 19 '16 at 20:22
  • Please look up both words in a dictionary, and, if you still are uncertain, explain why you are still uncertain. – ab2 Jan 19 '16 at 20:54
  • I suspect they were originally considered synonymous, but trusty has lost its general meaning and is now only used to qualify servants. – Barmar Jan 21 '16 at 2:20
  • No, at least not in American. The common use of 'trusty' is for a prisoner in a jail who has been given some privileges in exchange for doing chores, so calling people trusty could easily be misinterpreted. – jamesqf Feb 19 '16 at 23:48
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The definitions you found tell the story well. Trustworthy has the connotation of truthfulness and someone to who would keep your secrets. Trusty has the connotation of someone or something you'd rely on to back you up in a fight.

Trustworthy is more cerebral or inward-looking; trusty, more practical or outward-looking.

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Note in the definition of trusty, it says "served for a long time" and "faithful." Therefore trusty is better suited to describe people in a "serving" position such a servant, sidekick (as you have questioned), etc. Whereas trustworthy is used to describe people who are generally reliable. Hope this helps

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