Definition of 'disinterested'
1. adjective
2. adjective
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
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Word Frequency
disinterested in British English
▶ USAGE Many people consider that the use of disinterested to mean not interested is incorrect and that uninterested should be used
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
disinterestedly (disˈinterestedly) adverb
disinterestedness (disˈinterestedness)
noun
Word Frequency
disinterested in American English
adjective
SIMILAR WORDS: inˈdifferent
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
disinterestedly (disˈinterestedly)
adverb
disinterestedness (disˈinterestedness)
noun
Word Frequency
disinterested in American English
(dɪsˈɪntəˌrestɪd, -trɪstɪd)
adjective
SYNONYMS 1. impartial, neutral, unprejudiced, dispassionate. See fair1ANTONYMS 1. partial, biased.USAGE disinterested and uninterested share a confused and confusing history. disinterested was originally used to mean “not interested, indifferent”; uninterested in its earliest use meant “impartial.” By various developmental twists, disinterested is now used in both senses. uninterested is used mainly in the sense “not interested, indifferent.” It is occasionally used
to mean “not having a personal or property interest.” Many object to the use of disinterested to mean “not interested, indifferent.” They insist that disinterested can mean only “impartial”: A disinterested observer is the best judge of behavior. However, both senses are well established in all varieties of English, and the sense
intended is almost always clear from the context1.
unbiased by personal interest or advantage; not influenced by selfish motives
a disinterested decision by the referee
2.
not interested; indifferent
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
disinterestedly adverb
disinterestedness
noun
Word origin
[1605–15; dis-1 + interested]Examples of 'disinterested' in a sentence
disinterested
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In other languages
disinterested
British English: disinterested
ADJECTIVE /dɪsˈɪntrɛstɪd; dɪsˈɪntrəstɪd/
Someone who is disinterested is not involved in a particular situation or not likely to benefit from it and is therefore able to act in a fair and unselfish way.
- American English: disinterested /dɪˈsɪntərɛstɪd, -ˈɪntrɪstɪd/
- Brazilian Portuguese: imparcial
- Chinese: 不涉己利的
- European Spanish: desinteresado
- French: désintéressé
- German: unparteiisch
- Italian: disinteressato
- Japanese: 公平無私な
- Korean: 사심이 없는
- European Portuguese: imparcial
- Latin American Spanish: desinteresado
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Definition of disinterested from the Collins English Dictionary
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