public interest

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See synonyms for public interest on Thesaurus.com

noun

the welfare or well-being of the general public; commonwealth: health programs that directly affect the public interest.

appeal or relevance to the general populace: a news story of public interest.

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Origin of public interest

First recorded in 1670–80

OTHER WORDS FROM public interest

public-interest, adjective

Words nearby public interest

public health, public health inspector, public holiday, public house, public housing, public interest, public-interest group, public-interest law, public international law, publicist, publicity

How to use public interest in a sentence

Because the private sector is not bound by the First Amendment, companies actually do have more leeway to act in the public interest.
Twenty-Six Words Created the Internet. What Will It Take to Save It?|Stephen Engelberg|February 9, 2021|ProPublica
So there’s significant public interest in knowing what the role of climate change is in this setting.
A looming climate disaster threatens the lives of 6,000 Peruvians|Philip Kiefer|February 9, 2021|Popular-Science
Barriers that limit how tech companies can acquire, use, and sell data alongside clear public interest obligations would also make misinformation at scale less of a national security threat.
How a Democratic plan to reform Section 230 could backfire|Bobbie Johnson|February 8, 2021|MIT Technology Review
They cited concerns over the First Amendment, freedom of speech, and public interest as the reasons for a lack of intervention on even the most palpable mistruths, but the events at the Capitol prompted a shift change.
The future of Google and what it means for search|Pete Eckersley|February 5, 2021|Search Engine Watch

The limited availability of radio and television spectrum justified government-enforced public interest rules on those who received exclusive licenses to the public airwaves.
The Fairness Doctrine won’t solve our problems — but it can foster needed debate|Victor Pickard|February 4, 2021|Washington Post
When cities started adding chlorine to their water supplies, in the early 1900s, it set off public outcry.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Not to be left behind, progressives in neighboring Wisconsin clamored to join the cutting edge of public health.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Just the hard-on before you shoot unarmed members of the public.
'Babylon' Review: The Dumb Lives of Trigger-Happy Cops|Melissa Leon|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Great American leaders have long contributed profound thoughts of tremendous consequence to the public discourse.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Saved from the public gallows, Weeks was virtually exiled from the city, and wound up in Mississippi, where he raised a family.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In the parish churches, many of which are of great interest, the predominant styles are Decorated and Perpendicular.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 4|Various
And with some expressions of mutual good-will and interest, master and man separated.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, v. 2(of 2)|Charles Dickens
A desultory conversation on politics, in which neither took the slightest interest, was a safe neutral ground.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
As such it is now presented to the public for whatever meed of praise or censure it is found to deserve.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
His also was the intellectual point of view, and the intellectual interest in knowledge and its deductions.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume II of II)|Henry Osborn Taylor