Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
disinterested, uninterested (adjs.)
Uninterested is not very much used these days, whereas disinterested is frequently used to mean “indifferent, not interested, unconcerned” and “having just lost interest or concern,” in addition to its older meaning of “without bias, impartial.” All these are Standard today, even though many commentators would prefer uninterested to handle all need for an “indifferent” sense and reserve disinterested for the “impartial” sense alone. At present, even though Edited English and Formal and Oratorical contexts try to prevent the use of disinterested to mean “indifferent or having just lost interest,” all these examples are Standard: Her disinterested intervention in the quarrel helped to restore calm. His disinterested expression suggested that his thoughts were far away. After listening to her drone on for an hour, I became disinterested. Uninterested will also work nicely in the latter two examples, and some purists insist that only it is appropriate in them. In any event, whenever you use disinterested, context must make clear the sense you’re using. See also INTEREST.
