vested interest
(redirected from a vested interest)vested interest
A strong, self-motivated interest or stake (in someone or something). The industry accounts for nearly 30% of our annual revenue, so of course we have a vested interest in any legislation that could affect it. He's got a $200 bet riding on this team, so yes, you could say he's got a vested interest in whether they win or lose.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
*vested interest (in something)
Fig. a personal or biased interest, often financial, in something. (*Typically: have ~; give someone ~.) Margaret has a vested interest in wanting her father to sell the family firm. She has shares in it and would make a large profit. Bob has a vested interest in keeping the village traffic-free. He has a summer home there.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
vested interest
A personal stake in something, as in She has a vested interest in keeping the house in her name. This term, first recorded in 1818, uses vested in the sense of "established" or "secured."
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
vested interest
A personal stake in an existing arrangement or institution; also, in the plural (vested interests), those who have such a stake. In his oft-quoted essay On Liberty (1859), John Stuart Mill wrote, “The doctrine ascribes to all mankind a vested interest in each other’s moral, intellectual, and even physical perfection.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer