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  

/ ˈɪntrɪst, -tərɪst /

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

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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

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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

If oil prices keep climbing in the near term, interest rates could move “significantly higher,” according to Bank of America — even if the Iran war is resolved.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026

Excluding certain one-off items, Six Flags logged adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization of $493.2 million for the quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

“If oil prices continue to rise over the next 3-6 months, we could see significantly higher interest rates,” they said.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026

Accounting for that weakness, Six Flags forecast fourth-quarter same-park adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization between $140 and $150 million, down from $167 million a year earlier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

He was a civil engineer and a geologist, with a special interest in landslides.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

Never has a politician so consistently acted against his own and his party’s interests.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

And the policy is connected to the important state interests of protecting children from discriminatory barriers to publicly funded preschool education.

From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026

But another submission from a coalition of Jewish groups argued that Palestine Action was a "sinister" organisation intent on attacking its community interests.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

Raman received her own support from well-funded interests.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

Vinny could not believe that Deutsche Bank would let this guy loose to run around and torpedo their market unless it served the narrow interests of Deutsche Bank.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

AMD said customers are increasingly interested in both its graphics processing units and its server central processing units, which serve key roles in the AI ecosystem.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026

What interested party in a negotiation wouldn’t want to put itself on both sides of the table simultaneously?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

But he’s more interested in talking about what keeps him coming back rather than what has changed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026

Although Alzheimer's primarily affects the brain, scientists are increasingly interested in how other organs might influence the disease.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

His mom took him there to feed him, and sometimes he got so interested in listening to the squeak of the chair and looking at the pictures on the walls that he forgot to eat.

From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry

“It doesn’t have lots and lots of meteors, but sometimes it gets some of the bigger and slower and more interesting ones,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

It will be interesting to see how they reconcile these positions with fiscal priorities.

From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026

KCL-286 is particularly interesting because it targets DNA damage and inflammation, two processes that can emerge early in Alzheimer's progression.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

The parallels are interesting for those who know Lumentum’s history.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026

“Very well. Let us take no more than three minutes to collect our bird-watching equipment. If we are in luck, we will find some interesting specimens before teatime.”

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

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Related Words

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

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