What does interest mean?

interest means "a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something". That is the primary sense; the word has 10 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in interest?

interest has 2 syllables: in-terest. The stress falls on "in". In IPA it is /ˈɪntɹəst/.

What is another word for interest?

Close synonyms include involvement, sake, interestingness, stake, interest group. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of interest?

The recorded antonyms are bore.

Is interest a common word?

interest is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

interest — meaning, pronunciation and 10 definitions

noun

7 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something
“an interest in music”
Synonymsinvolvement
Broadercuriosity
Narrowerenthusiasm concern
2.
a reason for wanting something done
“for your sake”
“died for the sake of his country”
“in the interest of safety”
“in the common interest”
Synonymssake
Broaderbenefit
Narrowerbehalf
3.
the power of attracting or holding one's attention (because it is unusual or exciting etc.)
“they said nothing of great interest”
“primary colors can add interest to a room”
Synonymsinterestingness
Broaderpower
Narrowercharisma newsworthiness topicality color shrillness
4.
a fixed charge for borrowing money; usually a percentage of the amount borrowed
“how much interest do you pay on your mortgage?”
Broaderfixed charge
Narrowercompound interest simple interest
5.
(law) a right or legal share of something; a financial involvement with something
“they have interests all over the world”
“a stake in the company's future”
Synonymsstake
Broadershare
Narrowergrubstake controlling interest insurable interest vested interest security interest terminable interest undivided interest fee equity reversion
law
6.
(usually plural) a social group whose members control some field of activity and who have common aims
“the iron interests stepped up production”
Synonymsinterest group
Broadersocial group
Narrowerspecial interest vested interest
plural
7.
a diversion that occupies one's time and thoughts (usually pleasantly)
“sailing is her favorite pastime”
“his main pastime is gambling”
“he counts reading among his interests”
“they criticized the boy for his limited pursuits”
Synonymspastime pursuit
Broaderdiversion
Narroweravocation

verb

3 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
excite the curiosity of; engage the interest of
Antonymsbore
Broaderarouse
Narrowerabsorb fascinate
2.
be on the mind of
“I worry about the second Germanic consonant shift”
Synonymsconcern occupy worry
3.
be of importance or consequence
“This matters to me!”
Synonymsmatter to
Broaderrefer
Narrowerintrigue

Other forms of interest

plural: interests·
past tense: interested·
present participle: interesting·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about interest

What does interest mean?: interest means "a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something". That is the primary sense; the word has 10 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in interest?: interest has 2 syllables: in-terest. The stress falls on "in". In IPA it is /ˈɪntɹəst/.
What is another word for interest?: Close synonyms include involvement, sake, interestingness, stake, interest group. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
What is the opposite of interest?: The recorded antonyms are bore.
Is interest a common word?: interest is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for interest come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

noun

7 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something
“an interest in music”
Synonymsinvolvement
Broadercuriosity
Narrowerenthusiasm concern
2.
a reason for wanting something done
“for your sake”
“died for the sake of his country”
“in the interest of safety”
“in the common interest”
Synonymssake
Broaderbenefit
Narrowerbehalf
3.
the power of attracting or holding one's attention (because it is unusual or exciting etc.)
“they said nothing of great interest”
“primary colors can add interest to a room”
Synonymsinterestingness
Broaderpower
Narrowercharisma newsworthiness topicality color shrillness
4.
a fixed charge for borrowing money; usually a percentage of the amount borrowed
“how much interest do you pay on your mortgage?”
Broaderfixed charge
Narrowercompound interest simple interest
5.
(law) a right or legal share of something; a financial involvement with something
“they have interests all over the world”
“a stake in the company's future”
Synonymsstake
Broadershare
Narrowergrubstake controlling interest insurable interest vested interest security interest terminable interest undivided interest fee equity reversion
law
6.
(usually plural) a social group whose members control some field of activity and who have common aims
“the iron interests stepped up production”
Synonymsinterest group
Broadersocial group
Narrowerspecial interest vested interest
plural
7.
a diversion that occupies one's time and thoughts (usually pleasantly)
“sailing is her favorite pastime”
“his main pastime is gambling”
“he counts reading among his interests”
“they criticized the boy for his limited pursuits”
Synonymspastime pursuit
Broaderdiversion
Narroweravocation

verb

3 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
excite the curiosity of; engage the interest of
Antonymsbore
Broaderarouse
Narrowerabsorb fascinate
2.
be on the mind of
“I worry about the second Germanic consonant shift”
Synonymsconcern occupy worry
3.
be of importance or consequence
“This matters to me!”
Synonymsmatter to
Broaderrefer
Narrowerintrigue

Other forms of interest

plural: interests·
past tense: interested·
present participle: interesting·

Questions about interest

What does interest mean?: interest means "a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something". That is the primary sense; the word has 10 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in interest?: interest has 2 syllables: in-terest. The stress falls on "in". In IPA it is /ˈɪntɹəst/.
What is another word for interest?: Close synonyms include involvement, sake, interestingness, stake, interest group. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
What is the opposite of interest?: The recorded antonyms are bore.
Is interest a common word?: interest is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

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interest

noun

verb

Other forms of interest

Questions about interest

Tools

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PDF & writing

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Health & fitness

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Learn & play

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interest

noun

verb

Other forms of interest

Questions about interest