interest

American  

[in-ter-ist, -trist] / ˈɪn tər ɪst, -trɪst /

noun

• interests
  plural

1. 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.

2. something that concerns, involves, draws the attention of, or arouses the curiosity of a person.

   His interests are philosophy and chess.

3. power of exciting such concern, involvement, etc.; quality of being interesting.

   political issues of great interest.

4. concern; importance.

   a matter of primary interest.

5. a business, cause, or the like in which a person has a share, concern, responsibility, etc.

6. 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.

7. a participation in or concern for a cause, advantage, responsibility, etc.

8. a number or group of persons, or a party, financially interested in the same business, industry, or enterprise.

   the banking interest.

9. interests, the group of persons or organizations having extensive financial or business power.

10. the state of being affected by something in respect to advantage or detriment.

    We need an arbiter who is without interest in the outcome.

11. benefit; advantage.

    to have one's own interest in mind.

12. regard for one's own advantage or profit; self-interest.

    The partnership dissolved because of their conflicting interests.

13. influence from personal importance or capability; power of influencing the action of others.

14. Finance.

    1. 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.

    2. interest rate.

15. something added or thrown in above an exact equivalent.

    Jones paid him back with a left hook and added a right uppercut for interest.

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verb (used with object)

• interests,
  present (3rd person singular)
• interested,
  past participle,  past
• interesting
  present participle

1. to engage or excite the attention or curiosity of.

   Mystery stories interested him greatly.

2. to concern (a person, nation, etc.) in something; involve.

   The fight for peace interests all nations.

3. to cause to take a personal concern or share; induce to participate.

   to interest a person in an enterprise.

4. to cause to be concerned; affect.

idioms

1. in the interest(s) of, to the advantage or advancement of; in behalf of.

   in the interests of good government.

interest British  

/ -tərɪst, ˈɪntrɪst /

noun

1. the sense of curiosity about or concern with something or someone

   an interest in butterflies

2. the power of stimulating such a sense

   to have great interest

3. the quality of such stimulation

4. something in which one is interested; a hobby or pursuit

5. (often plural) benefit; advantage

   in one's own interest

6. (often plural)

   1. a right, share, or claim, esp in a business or property

   2. the business, property, etc, in which a person has such concern

7. 1. a charge for the use of credit or borrowed money

   2. such a charge expressed as a percentage per time unit of the sum borrowed or used

8. (often plural) a section of a community, etc, whose members have common aims

   we must not offend the landed interest

9. to make known one's connection, esp a prejudicial connection, with an affair

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verb

1. to arouse or excite the curiosity or concern of

2. to cause to become involved in something; concern

interest Cultural  

1. The charge for borrowing money or the return for lending it.

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interest More Idioms  

1. see in one's interest; take an interest; vested interest; with interest.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overinterest
  noun
• preinterest
  noun
• reinterest
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• interests
  plural

Participles

• interesting
  present
• interested
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• interest
  simple
• interests
  simple
• have interested
  perfect
• has interested
  perfect
• am interesting
  progressive
• are interesting
  progressive
• is interesting
  progressive
• have been interesting
  perfect progressive
• has been interesting
  perfect progressive

Past

• interested
  simple
• had interested
  perfect
• was interesting
  progressive
• were interesting
  progressive
• had been interesting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will interest
  simple
• will have interested
  perfect
• will be interesting
  progressive
• will have been interesting
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

interest interests interested interesting

Net interest income was broadly flat at 1.06 billion euros while net fee and commission income increased 9.0% to 670.1 million euros.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

The lawsuit filed in 2024 by the firm’s two former executives alleged they were fired after telling securities regulators they were concerned about conflicts of interest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

According to one former CIA officer, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, the group is one of the few institutions in Cuba's government with an interest in abandoning the decades-old communist economic model.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Plus, as the AI trade matures, investor interest is expanding beyond the early leaders to semiconductor companies and other second- and third-order beneficiaries of AI spending.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

Nearly everyone in the train car was a ghost, and their apparent lack of interest in Boaz seemed to be more a function of the fact that they thought he could not see them.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

“The company determined that this resolution best serves the interests of its stakeholders and allows it to direct resources toward energy projects that can be advanced with certainty.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Dean and his Discovery Loop co-founders — also Google veterans — said they felt that they needed to leave Google to pursue their research interests.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Lekjaa last Saturday had praised his "wise" move to scrap the plan in the interests of "unity and cohesion".

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

However, after a new general manager was appointed, Owens was told that, in the interests of fairness to other staff, she would have to work a fully flexible seven-day rota.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

The probable cause showing could be based on nothing more than hearsay, innuendo, or even the paid, self-serving testimony of someone with interests clearly adverse to the property owner.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

The 26-year-old has entered the final 12 months of his contract and has attracted interested from Arsenal in recent weeks.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

“A lot of people who are coming onto the pill are individuals that basically are increasingly interested about treating themselves with GLP-1s, but do not want an injection,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Intron RNA had never been detected outside a cell, which made the researchers especially interested in looking for it inside the bacterium's prey.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

Any interested party — a hospital, nursing home, social worker, adult protective services, friend or relative — can file a formal petition with the local probate or superior court.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

“I keep track of how much trash everyone collects. Like Eddie said, it’s extra credit, so it’s totally optional. But if you’re interested, I can add your name to the list.”

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

"Asteroids are a really interesting challenge in many ways. It's unusual for an asteroid to come out of nowhere," explained Nash.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

One interesting aspect of the gold miners is how cheaply priced some of the largest companies in the group are relative to their earnings.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

It’s all interconnected in awkward and interesting ways.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

Like that film, the new one is an interesting if decidedly uneven work about pop-cultural obsession as an outlet for the more personal and tormented explorations of the protagonist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

He could walk to the bathroom and unroll the interesting roll of paper that hung there on the wall.

From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry

Related Words

• affect
• amuse
• appeal to
• attract
• concern
• engage
• engross
• entertain
• excite
• fascinate
• intrigue
• involve
• please
• tempt