the.com/disinterest
Not bored — unbiased. The judge, not the juror who dozed off.
means A lack of personal stake or bias in an outcome — the state of having nothing to gain or lose either way.
from Built from 'dis-' plus 'interest,' which traces to Latin 'interesse' — literally 'to be between' or 'to matter, make a difference.' 'Interest' originally carried a strong sense of 'a stake in something,' especially a financial or legal one. 'Disinterest' simply removes that stake. The word's reputation suffered a split personality over the centuries: it was pulled toward meaning 'lack of curiosity,' muscling in on 'uninterested,' which is why careful writers still fight to keep disinterest standing for impartiality alone.
- real meaning
- impartial, no stake in the outcome
- common mix-up
- people use it for uninterested instead
- best friend
- judges, referees, honest brokers
- losing battle
- dictionaries now allow the sloppy usage too