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PlainSpell

disinterest

UK /dɪsˈɪntɹɛst/noun, verb

disinterest is spelled D-I-S-I-N-T-E-R-E-S-T: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, disinterest means “An absence of interest (attention or curiosity)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in disinterest?

Letters11: D-I-S-I-N-T-E-R-E-S-T
Syllables4 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 3 million words; the 49,368th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is disinterest?

Disinterest appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce disinterest?

  • UK /dɪsˈɪntɹɛst/

Disinterest has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-disinterest.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of disinterest

  • disinterests present, singular, he/she/it
  • disinteresting participle, present
  • disinterested participle, past
  • more disinterest comparative
  • most disinterest superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does disinterest mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    An absence of interest (attention or curiosity).

    She eyed him over her martini with cool disinterest.

  2. 2

    The absence of interest (bias or stake).

  3. 3

    obsoleteWhat is contrary to interest or advantage.

verb

  1. 1

    To render disinterested.

adjective

  1. 1

    obsoleteFree of personal bias.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Disinterest in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdésintérêt (a lack of interest)
GermanDesinteresse (a lack of interest)
Spanishdesinterés (a lack of interest)
Portuguesedesinteressar (to render disinterested)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does disinterest come from?

From dis- + interest.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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