as in interest
a group of people with a common identifying interest that they seek to protect and promote
promised that as governor he would never be beholden to special interests
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of special interest
Americans for Prosperity ― Ogles' former employer and that of many of his congressional staff ― is a political special interest group that advocates for limited government, free markets and fiscal restraint.
—
Vivian Jones, Nashville Tennessean, 5 Sep. 2025
How nuclear risk is perceived is an area of special interest for Rose McDermott, a political scientist at Brown who also has a degree in experimental social psychology.
—Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2025
For decades, sovereign citizens largely flew under the radar in Australia as relatively harmless eccentrics with a special interest in conspiracy theories.
—Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2025
Speaking broadly about Miami City Hall, Voccola said he can’t be bought by special interests.
—Miami Herald, 28 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for special interest
Vivian Jones, Nashville Tennessean, 5 Sep. 2025
How nuclear risk is perceived is an area of special interest for Rose McDermott, a political scientist at Brown who also has a degree in experimental social psychology.
—Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2025
For decades, sovereign citizens largely flew under the radar in Australia as relatively harmless eccentrics with a special interest in conspiracy theories.
—Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2025
Speaking broadly about Miami City Hall, Voccola said he can’t be bought by special interests.
—Miami Herald, 28 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for special interest
Recent Examples of Synonyms for special interest
Noun
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Paxton’s interest in Paul’s plight was bizarre, obsessive and so far beyond normal operations at the attorney general’s office that the agency’s top officials struggled to convey their concerns during the hourslong meeting with two FBI agents.—
Kimberly Ross,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
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Market bets on an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve in September were unchanged shortly following the print, with CME's FedWatch tool suggesting a 90% probability of a quarter-percentage point cut and a 10% chance of a bigger half-point reduction.—
Jenni Reid,Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Yet financial interventions from powerful interest groups short-circuit the most basic channels of representative government.—
John J. Donohue,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
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All this at a time when minority writers are also disproportionately the targets of censorship by Republican state houses and right-wing interest groups.—
Kevin Dickinson,
Big Think,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Special interest.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/special%20interest. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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