Meaning & use
persons of interest
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“persons of interest” is a form of “person of interest”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounplurallegal
People that police or investigators want to question because they may have useful information about a crime, even though they are not formally suspects.
Grammar: Plural of person of interest: police named three persons of interest.
Patterns
- persons of interest in something
- identify persons of interest
Police said they had identified two persons of interest in the burglary.
The persons of interest were questioned and then released.
Detectives are still looking for persons of interest in the missing-car case.
nounpluralspecialist
People who are closely watched or monitored for reasons of security, politics or business.
Grammar: Used by agencies and companies in a broad sense.
Patterns
- persons of interest to someone
Border agents keep a list of persons of interest to the department.
The report lists several persons of interest to the committee.
Word forms
| singular | person of interest |
|---|
Common combinations
- name persons of interest
- Police have not named any persons of interest.
- identify persons of interest
- Investigators identified persons of interest within a day.
- question persons of interest
- They questioned several persons of interest at the station.
- persons of interest in the case
- There are three persons of interest in the case.
- release persons of interest
- Officers released the persons of interest without charge.
Synonyms and how they differ
- suspects
- Suspects are people police believe may have committed the crime, which is stronger than persons of interest.
- witnesses
- Witnesses saw or know something about events, while persons of interest may be linked to them more directly.
- leads
- Leads are clues or names to follow up and are not necessarily people being questioned.
Opposites
Word family
- person of interest noun
- one such individual
- person noun
- a human being
- interest noun
- attention or concern
- investigation noun
- an official inquiry
Commonly confused: persons of interest or suspect?
persons of interest vs suspect
A suspect is believed to have done something wrong, while a person of interest may simply have information.
Practice
Police described him as a person of interest. What does that most likely mean?
Choose one answer.
A person of interest is someone investigators want to speak to, not someone convicted. Fame or guilt is not implied.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “persons of interest”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.