interest rate
Americannoun
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Business. the amount that a lender charges a borrower for taking out a loan, for maintaining a balance on debt, etc.: typically expressed as an annual percentage of the loan balance.
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Banking. the amount earned on a savings, checking, or money market account, or on an investment, such as a certificate of deposit or bond: typically expressed as an annual percentage of the account balance or investment sum.
Etymology
Origin of interest rate
First recorded in 1885–90
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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.
“When fragility in parts of the system make each interest rate change potentially destabilizing, the central bank sees its room for maneuver curtailed,” Lagarde said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
Around half of outstanding home loans still have an interest rate below 4%, so owners are unlikely to give up their ultracheap mortgages before rates come down.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
Yet Warsh is just one vote among 12 on the Fed board that sets the key U.S. interest rate — and he is clearly outnumbered.
From MarketWatch • May 23, 2026
Per the researchers’ formula, therefore, holding this ETF for between 10 and 11 years should immunize it from interest rate hikes.
From MarketWatch • May 22, 2026
The borrower was told he had an “effective interest rate of 7 percent” when he was in fact paying something like 12.5 percent.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
