conflict of interest
Americannoun
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the circumstance of a public officeholder, business executive, or the like, whose personal interests might benefit from their official actions or influence.
The senator placed his stocks in trust to avoid possible conflict of interest.
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the circumstance of a person who finds that one of their own activities, interests, etc., can be advanced only at the expense of another of them.
Etymology
Origin of conflict of interest
First recorded in 1950–55
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.
Former chief executive John Neal and former corporate affairs director Rebekah Clement's relationship was "sufficiently close... that it could be viewed as creating a perceived conflict of interest", the firm said.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
No authors declare a related conflict of interest under Johns Hopkins University policies.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
It did find that the contract with ASF Solutions constituted a conflict of interest, but did not elaborate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
As part of his compliance with federal conflict of interest rules, Bisignano sold large quantities of Fiserv stock by July 22, 2025, the day before the company reported its second-quarter earnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
“We have no conflict of interest; it’s important to me that the Voigt-Kampff test functions, almost as important as it is to you.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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.
