Meaning of interest in English

interest

noun

/ˈɪn.trest/ us

/ˈɪn.trɪst/

interest noun (INVOLVEMENT)

the feeling of wanting to give your attention to something or of wanting to be involved with and to discover more about something:

I've always had an interest in astronomy.

He never seems to show any interest in his children.

Unfortunately, I lost interest half way through the film.

She takes more of an interest in politics these days.

informal Just out of interest, how old is your wife?

B1 [ C ]

Your interests are the activities that you enjoy doing and the subjects that you like to spend time learning about:

On his form he lists his interests as cycling and cooking.

B1 [ U ]

the quality that makes you think that something is interesting:

Would this book be of any interest to you?

More examplesFewer examples

He has demonstrated a genuine interest in the project.
He wanted science students to take an interest in the arts, and so he ran literature classes at his home on Sunday afternoons.
They take a lively interest in their grandchildren.
I lost interest halfway through the book and I never finished it.
I can honestly say that I have no interest whatsoever in the royal family.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Excitement, interest, energy and enthusiasm

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Pastimes - general words

interest noun (ADVANTAGE)

C1 [ C usually plural, U ]

something that brings advantages to or affects someone or something:

A union looks after the interests of its members.

It's in his interests to keep careful records.

In the interests of safety, please do not smoke.

Despite what you think, I'm only acting in your best interests (= doing what is best for you).

See also

vested interest

More examplesFewer examples

As both a teacher and parent, she had an interest in seeing the school remain open.
Is it really in the public interest to publish this information?
The government's view is that raising taxes now would not be in the national interest .
The government will only say it is not in the general interest to reveal any more information.
She claimed that she had no financial interest in the case.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Helping and co-operating

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interest noun (MONEY)

C1 [ U ]

money that is charged by a bank or other financial organization for borrowing money:

Interest charges on an overdraft are usually quite high.

C1 [ U ]

money that you earn from keeping your money in an account in a bank or other financial organization:

You should put the money in a savings account where it will earn interest.

More examplesFewer examples

My investments return a high rate of interest.
The rise in interest rates has pushed up the value of my investments.
How much interest are you paying on the loan?
The smaller local lenders charge a high rate of interest.
An immediate interest cut might give a small boost to the economy.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Interest & capital

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interest noun (LEGAL RIGHT)

[ C ] law, business specialized

an involvement or a legal right, usually relating to a business or possessions:

He is a multi-millionaire with business interests around the world.

When they divorced she retained a legal interest in the property.

More examplesFewer examples

The courts will have to decide the size of the beneficiary's interest in the trust.
The deed transfers the interest to Mr Smith.
Are there any third-party interests over the land?
She is entitled to enforce her interest in the courts.
Her interest in the trust has not yet been vested.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Having and owning - general words

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interest

verb [ T ]

/ˈɪn.trest/ us

/ˈɪn.trɪst/

If someone or something interests you, you want to give that person or thing your attention and discover more about him, her, or it:

Sport has never really interested me.

More examplesFewer examples

Politics doesn't interest him much.
I've got some news that might interest you.
The subject that interests her most seems to be her own health!
The idea of travelling to China had always interested him, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity.
Anything to do with planes and flying interests him enormously.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Making people excited and interested

See more results »

Phrasal verb

interest someone in something

(Definition of interest from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

interest | American Dictionary

interest

noun

/ˈɪn·trəst, ˈɪn·tər·əst/

interest noun (INVOLVEMENT)

Add to word list Add to word list

[ C/U ]

a feeling of having your attention held by something, or of wanting to be involved with and learn more about something:

[ C ] an interest in chess

[ U ] I lost interest halfway through the book.

[ C/U ]

Your interests are the activities that you enjoy doing and the subjects that you like to spend time learning about.

of interest

If something is of interest, it holds your attention and makes you want to learn more about it:

Nothing much of interest was discussed.

interest noun (ADVANTAGE)

[ C ]

something that gives you what is important or necessary or helps you in some way:

A union looks after the interests of its members.

I was only acting in your interest (= to achieve what would help you).

interest noun (MONEY)

[ U ]

money that is charged, esp. by a bank, when you borrow money, or money that is paid to you for the use of your money:

My savings account is earning 5% interest.

interest

verb [ T ]

/ˈɪn·trəst, ˈɪnt·ə·rəst/

to cause you to want to give something your attention or learn more about it:

Sailing has never really interested me.

Idiom

Can I interest you in something

(Definition of interest from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

interest | Business English

interest

noun

/ˈɪntrəst/ us

Add to word list Add to word list

[ U ] FINANCE

money that is charged by a bank or other financial organization for lending money:

interest charges/payments Interest charges on an overdraft are usually quite high.

charge/pay interest A number of providers don't charge any interest for an introductory period when you get one of their cards.

interest on sth The interest on a mortgage is higher than the interest earned on savings.

You can expect to pay interest of 4–6% on the loan.

with interest I paid back the whole sum with interest within a month.

monthly/annual interest

[ U ] FINANCE

money that you earn from keeping your money in an account in a bank or other financial organization:

earn/receive/pay interest You will earn interest at 4% as long as you have money in your account.

Consumers look for the best rate of interest on their savings.

You will receive interest payments on your investments monthly.

The account pays interest of up to 5%.

monthly/annual interest

[ C ]

an involvement or a legal right, usually relating to a business or possessions that you own with other people:

He is a multi-millionaire with business interests around the world.

an interest in sth The bank has a legal interest in the building until the money is repaid, as it was offered as security on the loan.

[ S or U ]

the feeling of wanting to give your attention to something or of wanting to be involved with and to discover more about something:

show interest (in sth) Customers are showing a lot of interest in this new design.

lose interest (in sth) Keep your points short and snappy when you make your presentation, or the audience might lose interest.

take an interest (in sth) Since our company featured in a national newspaper, people are starting to take an interest in what we do.

have an interest in sth I've always had an interest in aviation.

Just out of interest, how many people were at the conference?

[ C ]

an activity that you enjoy doing or a subject that you like to spend time learning about:

She lists her interests as music, running, and learning languages.

[ U ]

the quality that makes you think that something is interesting:

be of interest to sb I think this report would be of interest to you.

[ C or U ]

something that brings someone advantages or that affects someone or something:

A union looks after the interests of its members.

It's in your interests to keep careful records.

In the interests of safety, please do not smoke.

I believe it is in everyone's best interests if I resign.

Examples of interest

interest

When planning a mapping, one must take this into account: an instrument is interesting only if it allows the discovery of unknown features.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Second, if a plan exists which is unambiguously in everyone's interest, then the individual players will not hesitate to choose their part of the plan.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The results, presenting both qualitative and quantitative analyses, provide interesting insights into the responses of the students to the experiment itself.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It is of interest to discuss some qualitative aspects of the solution before carrying out the calculation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It was this early experience as a rice breeder which also led to an interest in seed dormancy.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Many other adverbs (as interestingly, frankly, clearly, luckily, unfortunately) are similarly used; most are so ordinary as to excite no comment or interest whatsoever.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Her main research interest lies in the philosophical analysis of bioethical concepts.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

With a background in philosophical logic and metaphysics, his current research interests focus on the theoretical basis of bioethical inquiry.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

With pretense, disguise, and unreflective belief in disinterested philosophical analysis, philosophers can easily objectify the interests of certain power groups, whether scientific or political.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Her history of chemical theory refuses to isolate theory from the laboratory, the lecture hall, or the public and its philosophical interests.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

At least three aspects of philosophical anthropology have been of chief interest to philosophers of religion.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

From being purely historical and documentary, they are now turning towards an interest in theory.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

If the project generates financial revenues, but they are lower than for purely commercial investments, then perhaps an interest rate subsidy would be most appropriate.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Of interest, national regulations were required already at that time to reduce the large variability among hospitals in the exact method of cost price calculation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The policy network representing the interests of the mainland heavy industry (most importantly the metallurgical industry) comes very close to the ideal type policy community.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with interest

interest

These are words often used in combination with interest.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

abiding interest

Questions of memory have been an abiding interest for the last several years.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

accumulated interest

This debt and its accumulated interest is deducted from the labourer's share of the harvest.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

avid interest

I shall read everything with avid interest and take up all the points which he suggested.

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

See all collocations with interest

What is the pronunciation of interest?

Translations of interest

in Chinese (Traditional)

介入, 興趣，關注, 愛好…

in Chinese (Simplified)

介入, 兴趣，关注, 爱好…

in Spanish

interés, afición, interesar…

in Portuguese

interesse, passatempo, juros…

in more languages

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एखाद्या गोष्टीकडे आपले लक्ष देण्याची इच्छा किंवा एखाद्या गोष्टीत सामील होण्याची आणि एखाद्या गोष्टीबद्दल अधिक शोधण्याची इच्छा असणे, आपल्या आवडी निवडी म्हणजे आपल्याला आनंद देणारे क्रिया आणि ज्या विषयांबद्दल शिकण्यासाठी आपल्याला वेळ घालवायला आवडतो., गुणवत्ता जी आपल्याला काहीतरी मनोरंजक आहे असे वाटते…

興味, 趣味, 関心をそそるもの…

ilgi, alaka, ilgi çeken/önemli şey…

intérêt [masculine], centre [masculine] d’intérêt, intérêts [masculine…

interès, afició, interessar…

belangstelling, interesse, rente…

உங்கள் கவனத்தை ஏதாவது ஒன்றில் செலுத்த விரும்புவது அல்லது ஏதாவது ஒன்றில் ஈடுபட விரும்புவது மற்றும் ஒன்றைப் பற்றி மேலும் அறிய விரும்புவது போன்ற உணர்வு, உங்கள் ஆர்வங்கள் நீங்கள் செய்வதை ரசிக்கும் செயல்பாடுகள் மற்றும் நீங்கள் கற்றுக்கொள்ள நேரத்தை செலவிட விரும்பும் பாடங்கள்., ஏதோ சுவாரஸ்யம் என்று நினைக்க வைக்கும் குணம்…

रुचि, दिलचस्पी, अभिरुचि…

રસ, શોખ, અભિરુચિ…

interesse, rente, rente-…

intresse, ränta, andel…

minat, aktiviti, bunga…

das Interesse, die Zinsen (pl.), Zins-……

interesse [masculine], rente [masculine], beste [neuter]…

دلچسپی, دلچسپی (دلچسپی کے مشاغل), دلچسپی (کسی چیزمیں خصوصی دلچسپی ہونا)…

інтерес, зацікавленість, відсотки…

интерес, увлечение, ссудный процент…

ఆసక్తి/ ఏదో ఒకదానిమీద దృష్టి పెట్టాలనుకునే భావన లేదా దానిలో పాలుపంచుకోవాలనుకునే, దాని గురించి మరింత తెలుసుకోవాలనుకునే భావన, అభిరుచి/ మీ ఆసక్తులు మీరు ఆనందించే కార్యకలాపాలు…

رغْبة فِي المَعْرِفة, وُلوع, اهتِمام…

আগ্রহ, পছন্দের কাজ এবং বিষয়গুলি, গুণমান যা মনে করে যে কিছু আকর্ষণীয়…

pozornost, zájem, úrok(ový)…

minat, kegiatan, bunga…

ความอยากรู้อยากเห็น, ความสนใจ, ดอกเบี้ย…

sự chú ý, điều quan tâm, lợi tức…