disinterested
Often confused with uninterested
- 1Having nothing to gain or lose from the outcome and no conflict of interest; impartial and free from bias.
The two companies agreed to let a disinterested arbitrator settle the dispute.
Her advice was disinterested: she earned nothing whichever house they bought.
Similarimpartial, unbiased, neutral, objective, detached
Oppositebiased, partisan, prejudiced, interested
Note
The interest being denied is a stake, as in an interested party, not curiosity. That is why the word suits arbitrators, referees and advisers, and why Pinker can speak of a disinterested third party. It can describe motives as well: in Somerset Maugham, a disinterested passion for art is love of art with no thought of gain. Its natural opposites are partisan and biased.
- 2Lacking interest in something; not curious about it or concerned with it.
By the third hour of the meeting, most of the staff looked bored and disinterested.
He seemed completely disinterested in what anyone else had to say.
Similarindifferent, unconcerned, apathetic, incurious
Oppositeinterested, curious
Note
Careful writers and many usage guides object to this meaning: for them a bored person is uninterested, and disinterested is kept for the impartial meaning. The use is not new, since it appears as early as 1684 and in Djuna Barnes's Nightwood, but it still draws correction. In formal writing, uninterested is the safe choice and leaves no doubt about which you mean.
Practice
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Origin
A corruption of the adjective disinterest (or disinteressed). The sense "lacking interest" is likely from dis- + interested.