Make Your Editor Cry: Disinterested vs. Uninterested
If your ex boyfriend is disinterested enough to give you his brother’s number, he’s over you and unbiased. If the cute brother is uninterested and doesn’t call you back, then he’s just not that into you.
If you want a disinterested, or unbiased opinion, you normally would not ask your ex-boyfriend if you can ask his brother out. Odds are, he will not be disinterested. Disinterested means impartial, having no bias or profit from something. If you can’t decide whether to purchase the shirt with orange polka dots or the purple paisley-patterned one, you might seek input from a disinterested, or unbiased, party (who will probably tell you not to buy either one).
Uninterested means neutral or indifferent, having no interest in something. Once your former sweetheart has a new girlfriend, he might be bored, or uninterested, enough for you to ask him about his cute brother. Uninterested describes someone who doesn’t pay attention or care. If you’re uninterested in touring old homes and shopping for antiques, you might be bored on vacation with your aunt and her friends.
If you’re disinterested, you’re unbiased; you’re out of the loop. But if you’re uninterested, you don’t give a hoot. You’re bored.
Gregg Bridgeman is the Editor-in-Chief at Olivia Kimbrell Press. He is husband to best-selling Christian author Hallee Bridgeman and parent to three. He continues to proudly serve in the US Armed Forces and has done so in either an active or reserve capacity for more than twenty years as an airborne and air assault qualified paratrooper, earning a Bronze Star for his service. Most importantly, he was ordained in October of 2001 after surrendering his life to Christ decades earlier.