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# disinterested

«disinterested» in Mova's school dictionary: **fair because you do not gain anything either way; not…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (disinterested)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Disinterested means fair because you do not gain anything either way; not taking sides. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disinterested/#m1)

2) (informal, often thought wrong) Disinterested is also used to mean not interested, bored. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disinterested/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In law, sport and ethics, a «disinterested judge» or referee is fair and does not support one side. In everyday speech many people use it for «uninterested», which careful writers avoid. Phrases: «a disinterested observer», «disinterested advice».

### examples

- A referee should be disinterested and fair to both teams. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disinterested/#x1)
- We asked a disinterested person to judge the competition. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disinterested/#x2)
- Her advice was disinterested; she gained nothing from it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disinterested/#x3)
- The judge must be disinterested in the case. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disinterested/#x4)
- He seemed disinterested in the lesson (many say «uninterested» here). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disinterested/#x5)
- A disinterested witness has nothing to win or lose. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disinterested/#x6)

### note

Big trap: «disinterested» (fair, not taking sides) vs «uninterested» (bored, not caring). Teachers and exams prefer: «The judge was disinterested; the bored pupil was uninterested». Noun: «disinterest».

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «disinterested» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disinterested/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.