interest
[noun]
Synonyms:
- curiosity, attention, concern, notice, regard
- hobby, activity, diversion, pastime, preoccupation, pursuit
- advantage, benefit, good, profit
- stake, claim, investment, right, share
[verb]
Synonyms:
- intrigue, attract, catch one's eye, divert, engross, fascinate

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Antonyms: disinterest, bore
Contrasted words: apathy, indifference, unconcern
Related Words: enthusiasm, excitement, passion, attention, care, concernment, absorption, engrossment, arouse, tantalize, titillate, lure, pull, snare, tempt, pique

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English Thesaurus: hobby, interest, pastime, passion, pursuit, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. in‧terest¹ S2 W1 /ˈɪntrəst, ˈɪntrɪst/ noun
[Word Family: adverb: interestingly, disinterestedly; adjective: interested ≠ disinterested ≠ uninterested, interesting ≠ UNINTERESTING; verb: interest; noun: interest ≠ disinterest]
[Date: 1400-1500; Origin: Anglo-French interesse, from Latin interesse 'to be between, make a difference, concern', from esse 'to be']

1. [singular, uncountable] if you have an interest in something or someone, you want to know or learn more about them
interest in
My parents encouraged my interest in science.
I’d recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in jazz.
Ben has shown an interest in learning French.
My mother had never expressed any interest in the garden.
Babies soon begin to take an interest in the world around them.
John appeared to have no interest in girls.
I watched the first few episodes, but soon lost interest.
The last round of bidding aroused considerable interest.
Our survey reveals a disturbing lack of interest in teacher training.
I read your article with great interest.

2. [countable usually plural] an activity that you enjoy doing or a subject that you enjoy studying:
His interests include walking and golf.
As a biologist, my main interest has been human genetics.
Her outside interests (=interests that are not part of her work) were numerous.

3. [uncountable] a quality or feature of something that attracts your attention or makes you want to know more about it:
A Persian rug will add colour and interest to your hallway.
be of (no) interest (to somebody) (=be interesting or not interesting to someone)
It’s a book that will be of interest to a wide range of readers.
What you do in your private life is of no interest to me.
art galleries, museums and other places of interest
topics of general interest (=that everyone wants to know about)

4. [uncountable]
a) the extra money that you must pay back when you borrow money
interest on
The interest on the loan is 16% per year.
How much are the monthly interest payments?
b) money paid to you by a bank or financial institution when you keep money in an account there:
an account that pays higher interest
The more you save, the more interest you’ll earn. ⇒ compound interest, interest rate, simple interest

5. [countable usually plural, uncountable] the things that bring advantages to someone or something
protect/look after/safeguard sb’s interests
The regulations were introduced in order to safeguard the interests of local fishing communities.
be in sb’s (best) interest(s) (to do something) (=be the best thing for someone)
The court decided that it was in the girl’s best interests to remain with her grandparents.
have sb’s (best) interests at heart (=care about someone and want to do what is best for them)
He has your best interests at heart, you know.
We’ve got to balance economic interests and environmental interests.

6. be in the national/public interest to be good or necessary for the safety or success of a country and its people:
I believe it is in the public interest that these facts are made known.

7. in the interest(s) of justice/safety/efficiency etc in order to make a situation or system fair, safe etc:
The race was postponed in the interests of safety.

8. (just) out of interest/as a matter of interest spoken used to say that you are asking a question only because you are interested and not because you need to know:
Just out of interest, how much did they offer you?

9. [countable] if you have an interest in a particular company or industry, you own shares in it:
The company is believed to be keen to sell its extensive brewing interests.
His business interests are spread throughout Europe.
controlling interest (=enough shares to control what decisions are taken)
In 1986 GM acquired a controlling interest in the sports car maker Lotus.

10. [countable usually plural] a group of people in the same business who share aims or ideas:
Farming interests now dominate many of the National Park committees.
The majority of Brazil’s huge commercial interests support the measure.
the need to reduce the influence of special interests (=groups who are concerned about particular subjects)

11. have no interest in doing something to not want to do something:
I have no interest in continuing this conversation.

12. declare an interest (in something) to officially state that you are connected with something or someone, and so cannot be completely fair and independent when making a decision involving them

13. human interest/love interest the part of a story, film, or event which is interesting because it shows things about people’s lives or romantic relationships:
As a trainee reporter, she spent most of her time on human interest stories.
⇒ conflict of interest at conflict¹(6), ⇒ self-interest, ⇒ vested interest at vested(1)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. interest² verb [transitive]
[Word Family: adverb: interestingly, disinterestedly; adjective: interested ≠ disinterested ≠ uninterested, interesting ≠ UNINTERESTING; verb: interest; noun: interest ≠ disinterest]

1. to make someone want to pay attention to something and find out more about it:
Here’s an article which might interest you.
What interests me is all the history of these places.
It may interest you to know that a number of scholarships are available.

2. interest yourself in something formal to give something a lot of attention because you want to find out more about it:
He had always interested himself in foreign affairs.

3. to try to persuade someone to buy, do, or eat something
interest somebody in something
The salesman tried to interest me in the higher-priced model.
Could I interest you in a drink/dessert etc? (=used as a polite way of offering someone a drink etc)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

interest
noun
I. desire to learn/hear more about sb/sth
ADJ. avid, burning, close, considerable, consuming, deep, great, intense, keen, lively, passionate, strong The police were starting to take a close interest in the company's activities. She always had a great interest in the supernatural.
particular | growing, increasing | slightest He's never shown the slightest interest in football.
general, widespread | worldwide | serious | genuine | abiding, lifelong | passing | renewed | added I'll watch the programme with added interest now I know you're in it.
active | passive | polite He showed a polite interest in her story.
personal | media The event attracted a lot of media interest.
VERB + INTEREST have | evince, express, show, take My cousin expressed an interest in seeing where I work.
feign, simulate She feigned interest in a magazine article to avoid meeting the man's stare.
lose | arouse, attract, awaken, caught, drum up, excite, generate, kindle, spark, stimulate, stir up, whip up A sticker on a bag caught my interest. The government failed to drum up any public interest in the referendum. A childhood journey sparked his lifelong interest in railways.
develop While in prison he developed an interest in art.
maintain, sustain Despite intensive publicity, Channel 4 failed to maintain interest in its expensive new show.
revive
INTEREST + VERB grow | flag, wane The children's interest began to flag after half an hour of the lesson.
PREP. for/out of ~ I'm asking purely out of interest.
with ~ They listened with interest.
~ among to stimulate interest among teachers
~ from growing interest from younger members
~ in She took an active interest in their welfare.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

interest
II. quality that attracts attention
ADJ. great | particular Her comments are of particular interest to me.
broad, general, wide | architectural, artistic, historic/historical, scientific | academic Since the championship has already been decided, this match is of purely academic interest.
human a plot devoid of human interest
love Angelina Jolie supplies the love interest in the film.
VERB + INTEREST be of His books are of no interest to me at all.
hold no Their conversation held no interest for me.
add Bushes that flower in winter will add interest to your garden.
supply
INTEREST + VERB lie in The interest of the painting lies in its unusual use of colour.
PREP. of ~ a building of great architectural interest

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

interest
III. sth you enjoy doing/learning about
ADJ. diverse, varied, wide, wide-ranging | private | artistic, musical, etc.
VERB + INTEREST have | share | pursue He wanted time to pursue his many and varied musical interests.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

interest
IV. money earned from investments
ADJ. annual, monthly, etc. | compound, simple
VERB + INTEREST earn, make, receive | pay | charge
INTEREST + VERB accrue, bear
INTEREST + NOUN rate | payment | charge
PREP. ~ on to pay interest on a loan
PHRASES a rate of interest a mortgage with a fixed/flexible rate of interest

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

interest
V. benefits that sth has for sb
ADJ. best It's not in your best interests to let your boss know you're looking for a new job.
self-, selfish | common, mutual | competing, contradictory | long-term, short-term | narrow narrow sectional interests
direct Lawyers have a direct financial interest in the outcome of the debate.
paramount, vital | vested | national, public | class, sectional | foreign, outside | economic, financial, political, strategic, etc.
VERB + INTEREST defend, guard, look after, protect, safeguard | act in, advance, champion, further, promote, serve He claimed to be acting in the public interest.
represent | act against, jeopardize, threaten
INTEREST + VERB lie in sth | be at stake
INTEREST + NOUN group Various interest groups have expressed their opposition to the policy.
PREP. against sb/sth's ~(s) The solicitor refused to act against his client's interests.
contrary to sb/sth's ~ The union refused to support proposals that it saw as contrary to the interests of its members.
in sb/sth's ~(s) New work practices were introduced in the interests of efficiency.
of ~ We met to discuss matters of common interest.
out of ~ He was obviously acting purely out of selfish interest.
PHRASES a conflict of interests One member of the planning committee had a conflict of interests as he lived near the proposed motorway.
have sb's (best) interests at heart Although he was sometimes too strict with his children, he had their best interests at heart.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

interest
VI. legal right to share in profits
ADJ. powerful | controlling, majority | minority | joint | banking, business, commercial, shipping
VERB + INTEREST have He has controlling interests in several ventures.
sell
PREP. ~ in

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

interest
verb
ADV. greatly, particularly, really, very much It is this aspect of the work that really interests me.
VERB + INTEREST try to She tried to interest the director in her scheme.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

interest

have an interest in something
Steve has a keen interest in bird-watching.
show interest in something
He had shown great interest in her work.
express an interest in something (=say that you are interested in something)
A number of well-known film directors have expressed interest in the script.
take an interest in something (=be interested in something)
Jacky first took an interest in golf when he was about six years old.
have no interest in something
Andy had no interest in politics.
lose interest in something (=stop being interested)
Tilda had lost interest in what was being said.
arouse/generate/attract interest (=make people interested)
This extraordinary story has aroused interest in many quarters.
feign interest (=pretend to be interested)
Ted scanned the report, feigning interest.
interest grows
Interest in the project has steadily grown.
interest wanes (=becomes less)
When his initial interest waned, the teacher paid more attention to him.
great interest
The government has shown great interest in the idea.
enormous/intense interest (=very great)
This tournament has created enormous interest.
considerable/strong/keen interest
The results of their work will be of considerable interest.
special/particular interest
Natural history was a special interest of his.
a personal interest in something
He took a personal interest in the lives of his workers.
renewed interest (=starting again after it had stopped)
There has been a renewed interest in abstract painting in recent years.
a consuming interest (=a very strong feeling of interest)
Roland had a consuming interest in cricket.
a long-term/abiding interest (=an interest you have had for a long time)
She has had a long-term interest in antiques.
a lot of interest
There has been a lot of interest in the story.
a great deal of interest (=a lot of interest)
The exhibition has generated a great deal of interest.
a lack of interest
The show was cancelled due to a lack of interest on the part of the public.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

hobby an activity that you enjoy, and that you like to spend time doing when you are not working:
Stamp collecting has been a hobby of mine since I was a child.
We had to write an essay about our hobbies.
interest something that you are interested in and like doing or talking about:
Her interests were the same as most young girls – pop music, boys and clothes.
pastime especially written something that you do because it is enjoyable or interesting:
Gardening was her mother's favourite pastime.
In England talking about the weather is a national pastime (=something that a lot of people in a country do).
passion something that you feel extremely interested in and care a lot about:
Football was his passion.
For the French, food is a passion.
pursuit formal an activity that you spend time doing – used especially in the following phrases:
The hills and lakes are used for a variety of outdoor pursuits.
Her son wasn't really interested in academic pursuits.
Mountaineering, golfing, and fishing were among his leisure pursuits

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

invest verb [intransitive and transitive] to buy shares or property, in order to make a profit:
Why don’t you invest the money on the stock market?
He invested £50,000 in his brother’s business.
Investing in property is probably not a good idea right now.
put money into something to give money to a business, organization, activity etc, in order to help it develop and be successful:
We’re looking for an investor who will put money into our business.
Every year the charity puts millions of dollars into research to find ways to treat cancer.
back [transitive usually passive] to invest in a project or business, especially when the fact that you do this shows you support it:
The scheme has been backed by several major companies.
The movie is backed by a powerful state-owned bank.
interest noun [countable] if you have an interest in a particular company, you own shares in it:
In 1986 GM acquired a controlling interest (=enough shares to control what decisions are taken) in the sports car maker Lotus.
He has business interests throughout Europe.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

loan noun [countable] an amount of money that is borrowed, especially from a bank or company, which you agree to pay back by the end of a period of time:
We took out a loan to buy a new car.
He is paying back a $50,000 loan.
mortgage noun [countable] a large amount of money that someone borrows from a bank or company to buy a house:
Nick told me the mortgage on his apartment is worth about $90,000.
Anyone taking out a mortgage should be aware that interest rates can go up at any time.
It took my parents nearly thirty years to pay off their mortgage.
interest noun [uncountable] money that you pay for borrowing money, especially that you pay every year or every month at a fixed rate:
Credit companies charge huge amounts of interest.
What’s the interest on the loan?
overdraft noun [countable] British English the amount of money that you owe to bank when you have spent more money than you had in your account:
I left university with no job and a big overdraft.
20% of the bank’s customers regularly use their overdraft facility.
You have to pay a fee for unauthorized overdrafts.
debt noun [uncountable and countable] an amount of money that a person or organization owes:
The company now has debts of almost £2 million.
A lot of the money went towards paying his debts.
The family were $100,000 in debt (=they owed $100,000).
credit noun [uncountable] an arrangement with a shop or bank that allows you to buy something and pay for it later:
We bought the furniture on credit.
He had a credit limit of £7,000.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

profit money that you gain by selling things or doing business, after your costs have been paid:
Our profits are down this year.
The big oil companies have made enormous profits following the rise in oil prices.
earnings the profit that a company makes:
The company said it expected fourth-quarter earnings to be lower than last year’s results.
Pre-tax earnings have grown from $6.3 million to $9.4 million.
return the profit that you get from an investment:
You should get a good return on your investment.
We didn’t get much of a return on our money.
They’re promising high returns on investments of over $100,000.
turnover the amount of business done during a particular period:
The illicit drugs industry has an annual turnover of some £200 bn.
takings the money that a business, shop etc gets from selling its goods in a day, week, month etc:
He counted the night’s takings.
This week’s takings are up on last week’s.
interest money paid to you by a bank or other financial institution when you keep money in an account there:
They are offering a high rate of interest on deposits of over £3000.
The money is still earning interest in your account.
dividend a part of a company’s profit that is divided among the people who have shares in the company:
Shareholders will receive a dividend of 10p for each share.
The company said it will pay shareholders a final dividend of 700 cents a share.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

return to go back or come back to a place where you were before. Return sounds more formal than go back or come back, and is more commonly used in written English:
She returned to the hotel hoping to find a message.
Alastair returned from the office late that night.
On Friday, I returned home around six o'clock.
go back to go to the place where you were before, or to the place where you usually live:
It’s cold out here – shall we go back inside?
When are you going back to Japan?
go home to go to your home again, or to the country where you were born, after you have been away from it:
I did a bit of shopping and then went home.
Are you going home to Hong Kong when the course finishes?
come back to come to the place where you are again, after going away from it:
I’ll be away for two days – coming back on Thursday night.
He’s just come back from a vacation in Miami.
get back to arrive somewhere where you were before, especially your home or the place where you are staying:
We got back at about 9 o'clock.
She couldn’t wait to get back to London.
turn back to turn around and go back in the direction you came from:
We took the wrong road and had to turn back.
He ordered the soldiers to turn back and march south.
profit money that you gain by selling things or doing business, after your costs have been paid:
Our profits are down this year.
The big oil companies have made enormous profits following the rise in oil prices.
earnings the profit that a company makes:
The company said it expected fourth-quarter earnings to be lower than last year’s results.
Pre-tax earnings have grown from $6.3 million to $9.4 million.
turnover the amount of business done during a particular period:
The illicit drugs industry has an annual turnover of some £200 bn.
takings the money that a business, shop etc gets from selling its goods in a day, week, month etc:
He counted the night’s takings.
This week’s takings are up on last week’s.
interest money paid to you by a bank or other financial institution when you keep money in an account there:
They are offering a high rate of interest on deposits of over £3000.
The money is still earning interest in your account.
dividend a part of a company’s profit that is divided among the people who have shares in the company:
Shareholders will receive a dividend of 10p for each share.
The company said it will pay shareholders a final dividend of 700 cents a share.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲