disinterested
Americanadjective
-
unbiased by personal interest or advantage; not influenced by selfish motives.
a disinterested decision by the referee.
- Synonyms:
- dispassionate, unprejudiced, neutral, impartial
-
not interested; indifferent.
adjective
-
free from bias or partiality; objective
-
not interested
Usage
Many people consider that the use of disinterested to mean not interested is incorrect and that uninterested should be used
Commonly Confused
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 context.
Related Words
See fair 1.
Other Word Forms
- disinterestedly adverb
- disinterestedness noun
- nondisinterested adjective
Etymology
Origin of disinterested
First recorded in 1605–15; dis- 1 + interested
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.
Even when Maggie and Kate were exhausted, sad, or disinterested, they still had to make the rounds of social functions, whether in Washington, DC, or any city in which they appeared.
From Literature
Bickering or disinterested siblings and cousins often contribute to the demise of family associations with other famous companies.
While his interviewees are hardly disinterested observers, several persistent themes emerge from their comments.
Headstrong, queer and disinterested in Victorian pieties, she escaped her smothering Indianapolis family and headed to Chicago, where she hustled work as a bookseller and book reviewer.
From Los Angeles Times
I hadn’t expected her to be enthusiastic, but I also hadn’t thought she’d seem so disinterested.
From Literature
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.
