vested
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vested
Explanation
If you have a vested interest in something, you have a personal stake in its success. You have a vested interest in your science project — if your invention works, you could be rich and famous. Vested can also refer to something assigned to you. When a minister says "by the power vested in me by the State of Ohio, I now pronounce you husband and wife," he's referring to the legal authority he’s been given to marry people. Vested can also be a financial term. If you’re vested in your company's pension plan after working there 5 years, then even if you quit at 5 years, that pension money is yours to take with you.
Vocabulary lists containing vested
Vocabulary from the Constitution of the United States
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Marbury v. Madison (1803)
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Eyes Wide Open
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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.
And China has its own vested interest in a free and open waterway, where nearly 50% of the country’s crude oil imports pass through each day.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
During the past two decades, SpaceX has hired thousands of staff and granted them boatloads of restricted stock units, incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options that have vested over time.
From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026
Still, IRIS’ work stood out in a world where much of the science on toxic chemicals is funded by corporations with a vested stake in them.
From Salon • May 5, 2026
Wolff, of course, had a vested interest in rooting against wholesale changes: His team has won the first three Grands Prix of the season.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
You get an instant infusion of wealth and are simultaneously vested with something far more valuable: celebrity, which has become a kind of super-class in America, and one that renders all the old categories irrelevant.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
