interest
Americannoun
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interests
plural
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the feeling of a person whose attention, concern, or curiosity is particularly engaged by something.
She has a great interest in the poetry of Donne.
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something that concerns, involves, draws the attention of, or arouses the curiosity of a person.
His interests are philosophy and chess.
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power of exciting such concern, involvement, etc.; quality of being interesting.
political issues of great interest.
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a matter of primary interest.
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a business, cause, or the like in which a person has a share, concern, responsibility, etc.
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a share, right, or title in the ownership of property, in a commercial or financial undertaking, or the like.
He bought half an interest in the store.
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a participation in or concern for a cause, advantage, responsibility, etc.
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a number or group of persons, or a party, financially interested in the same business, industry, or enterprise.
the banking interest.
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interests, the group of persons or organizations having extensive financial or business power.
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the state of being affected by something in respect to advantage or detriment.
We need an arbiter who is without interest in the outcome.
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to have one's own interest in mind.
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regard for one's own advantage or profit; self-interest.
The partnership dissolved because of their conflicting interests.
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influence from personal importance or capability; power of influencing the action of others.
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Finance.
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a sum paid or charged for the use of money or for borrowing money.
If I won the lottery, I would invest the money, quit working and live off the interest.
-
-
something added or thrown in above an exact equivalent.
Jones paid him back with a left hook and added a right uppercut for interest.
verb (used with object)
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interests,
present (3rd person singular)
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interested,
past participle, past
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interesting
present participle
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to engage or excite the attention or curiosity of.
Mystery stories interested him greatly.
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to concern (a person, nation, etc.) in something; involve.
The fight for peace interests all nations.
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to cause to take a personal concern or share; induce to participate.
to interest a person in an enterprise.
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to cause to be concerned; affect.
idioms
noun
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the sense of curiosity about or concern with something or someone
an interest in butterflies
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the power of stimulating such a sense
to have great interest
-
the quality of such stimulation
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something in which one is interested; a hobby or pursuit
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(often plural) benefit; advantage
in one's own interest
-
(often plural)
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a right, share, or claim, esp in a business or property
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the business, property, etc, in which a person has such concern
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-
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a charge for the use of credit or borrowed money
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such a charge expressed as a percentage per time unit of the sum borrowed or used
-
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(often plural) a section of a community, etc, whose members have common aims
we must not offend the landed interest
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to make known one's connection, esp a prejudicial connection, with an affair
verb
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to arouse or excite the curiosity or concern of
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to cause to become involved in something; concern
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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interestsimple
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interestssimple
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have interestedperfect
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has interestedperfect
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am interestingprogressive
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are interestingprogressive
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is interestingprogressive
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have been interestingperfect progressive
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has been interestingperfect progressive
Past
-
interestedsimple
-
had interestedperfect
-
was interestingprogressive
-
were interestingprogressive
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had been interestingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of interest
First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English noun interest, intrest, entrest “legal claim or right,” from Medieval Latin, Latin interest “it concerns,” literally, “it is between,” replacing the Medieval Latin infinitive interesse, used as a noun, from Latin; see inter-, esse
Explanation
Interest is used most often to describe something you like, enjoy or think useful. You might have an interest in African literature, or you might follow the news with interest. Although interest is used mainly to describe anything that is, well, interesting, it also is used in specific legal contexts. If you have an interest in a company, it means you own part of it. Interest is also the word used to describe money charged or given as part of a debt. If a bank loans you $10,000, you have to pay back the $10,000 plus the interest. If the interest rate is 5 percent annually, you would owe $500.
Vocabulary lists containing interest
Ratios and Proportional Relationships
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Introductory
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The strategists said that energy prices and interest rates present risks in the near-term to their forecasts for the S&P 500’s EPS, but AI remains the most significant question in the long-term.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
What’s really effective about that is, number one, you’re speaking to the manager’s goals and making it in their interest to do this.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
Huang said that such predictions are "not grounded in science", adding that it is in Nvidia's best interest to ensure the industry builds its products responsibly.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Plus, the Fed raises interest rates for the first time in three years, and Erika Kirk takes steps toward filing a lawsuit over her husband’s fatal shooting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
I think she was trying to measure if I really had a lick of interest in sites of historical significance or if I was sassing her.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Instead, they had shown, over and over again, that they were going to put their own interests ahead of the people who trusted them.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026
While Kiritsis sought to use Hall’s life as a bargaining chip for prosecutorial immunity, he also portrayed himself as an underdog taking on powerful financial interests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s leader, said “the agreement recognizes Greenland’s interests and our place in international cooperation. This is to the benefit of us all.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The committee said a takeover plan by a consortium of more than 100 of its creditors did not have "the interests of the public, the company or the environment at heart".
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Descartes and Beeckman chatted away in Latin and discovered that they had interests in common.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
While he was producing Cregger’s breakout horror hit “Barbarian,” Lee asked him if there were any videogames he was interested in adapting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
And she isn't on her own, with one coach saying the number of people interested in the sport has "grown exponentially" in recent years.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
The researchers are particularly interested in whether the Stickney impact created a concentrated region of denser material beneath the crater.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
He has a former NFL executive interested in becoming president of business operations and has spoken with a former MLB executive about running stadium operations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
As the spirit scandal brewed, the newspapers grew interested in the Fox sisters all over again.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
"Some of the dark arts of defending, he'll bring some interesting things for the players to think about."
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
But if you’re willing to hold and rotate Vance’s recent statements in your mind, you’ll find something uncharacteristically interesting.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
That difference has made Spirostomum especially interesting to researchers who want to understand the machinery that makes its extreme speed possible.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
“Dramatically, it’s always very interesting to see somebody do the wrong thing for the right reason,” Ryan said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Teacher romance isn’t all that interesting, if I’m honest.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
