利益 (lì yì) is a formal noun meaning 'interest' or 'benefit', especially in contexts involving personal, group, or national advantage. The character 利 (lì) means 'profit', 'advantage', or 'sharpness', suggesting usefulness or gain; 益 (yì) means 'to benefit', 'to increase', or 'advantage'. Together, they emphasize tangible or intangible advantages—often used in discussions about rights, fairness, economics, law, or ethics. Unlike colloquial words like 好处 (hǎo chǔ), 利益 carries a more serious, institutional tone and frequently appears in compound terms like 国家利益 (guójiā lìyì, 'national interest') or 个人利益 (gèrén lìyì, 'personal interest').

This word rarely stands alone as a subject or object without modifiers—it’s commonly preceded by possessives (e.g., 我们的利益), quantifiers (e.g., 重大利益), or paired with verbs like 维护 (wéihù, 'to safeguard') or 损害 (sǔnhài, 'to harm'). It's neutral in connotation but can imply self-interest when contrasted with public good, making it central to debates about morality versus pragmatism.