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Synonyms

interest group

American  

noun

  1. a group of people drawn or acting together in support of a common interest or to voice a common concern.

    Political interest groups seek to influence legislation.
interest group Cultural  

  1. An organized group that tries to influence the government to adopt certain policies or measures. Also called pressure group. (See lobby.)

Etymology

Origin of interest group

First recorded in 1905–10

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.

That makes the rich especially valuable in a representative democracy like the U.S., where policy is normally shaped by the play of public opinion, competition among interest groups and the weight of a permanent bureaucracy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Election post-mortems, as well as consistent feedback from polling and interest groups, point towards the desire for a more diverse Liberal Party that reflects modern Australia, and a more cooperative, stable one.

From BBC

Some of the state’s status quo education interest groups resisted the 2013 legislation that created the state’s literacy reforms.

From The Wall Street Journal

In an interview Monday, she portrayed herself as not beholden to any special interest groups.

From Los Angeles Times

“And I’m not scared of any interest group.”

From The Wall Street Journal

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.