interest rate
Americannoun
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interest rates
plural
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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.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Rate hike projections are nearing 70% for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate meeting next week, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
This would effectively undo the 2025 rate cuts pushed by former Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, and would bring the central bank’s benchmark interest rate to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
It comes ahead of the Federal Reserve making its latest interest rate decision next week, with growing expectations they will be increased in a bid to slow the rate at which prices are rising.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Higher oil prices also raise the prospect of interest rate rises to combat inflation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Chrysler might sell its bonds and simultaneously enter into a ten-year interest rate swap transaction with Morgan Stanley—and just like that, Chrysler and Morgan Stanley were exposed to each other.
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.
