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I’ve always understood the difference between disinterested and uninterested as follows:

  • uninterested: not interested, not up to it
  • disinterested: impartial

Consider the situation of someone unwilling to help another in need. Is that person uninterested or disinterested?

I’d always thought it has to be uninterested, but I’ve read disinterested used in contexts like the one just given.

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  • They are synonyms of each other, hence used interchangeably.
    – Invoker
    Commented May 14, 2014 at 16:12
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    @Invoker Grammar Girl disagrees: An uninterested person is bored, unconcerned, or indifferent; a disinterested person is impartial, unbiased, or has no stake in the outcome. If you're on trial, you want a disinterested judge. Unless you're a lawyer, the word you're generally looking for is "uninterested," but a quick news search shows that "disinterested" is frequently misused by the media. Here's how to use them properly: - Squiggly couldn't help yawning; he was uninterested in fishing stories.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented May 14, 2014 at 16:16
  • A quick search on google also listed uninterested as a synonym of disinterested. The case you stated is a cut-out case and I suppose in majority of the cases, using either one of the above does not ask for rectification.
    – Invoker
    Commented May 14, 2014 at 16:21
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    @Invoker - If you Google "disinterested versus uninterested" you will get a bunch of links showing that in the standard dialect (i.e., the one used for international scientific communication, etc.) the words have distinct meanings. Only two of the top 5 links for the search "disinterested synonym uninterested" say that they are synonymous (and one of those has a clear caveat).
    – outis nihil
    Commented May 14, 2014 at 17:29
  • @Invoker Yes, in fact all words can be used interchangeably, if you don't care about being understood.
    – augurar
    Commented Dec 18, 2014 at 6:41

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You're right about the meaning of disinterested. It's impartial, unbiased, or having no stake in the outcome.

If you're uninterested, you're bored, unconcerned, or indifferent. Here's Grammar Girl explaining the differences, if that's helpful.

If you see someone in need and you are not interested in helping them, it is very likely that you are uninterested in helping them, not disinterested. But I think the similarity between the prefixes dis- and un- is what causes people to treat them so interchangeably.

If you look at their meanings, you'll get a better idea as to why disinterested and uninterested are so different yet similar. Basically dis- is used in separation cases, but un- is used for a reversal of an action. It isn't apparent in all cases, but it should help you see why it's so easy to say "uninterested" instead of "disinterested".

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  • Thanks for suggesting why people get them mixed up. Majority of my American friends use disinterested in a wrong way. So I was a little confused as I'm not a native english speaker.
    – Susheel
    Commented May 14, 2014 at 17:11
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    Using disinterested when uninterested is meant is a very common error (I say error here because a useful distinction in the standard dialect is elided when the words are not distinguished).
    – outis nihil
    Commented May 14, 2014 at 17:25

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