'Keen' @ keen interest: redundant?

[finefrenzy]

Hi everyone, my first post.

I've been bothered by this for days. Is the word 'keen' for keen interest redundant like 'free' for 'free gift'?
Shouldn't it be accurate if I were to use 'strong'instead of 'keen' to indicate the level of interest?
Thank you in advance for your valuable input!

 

[bhaisahab]

Hi everyone, my first post.

I've been bothered by this for days. Is the word 'keen' for keen interest redundant like 'free' for 'free gift'? No.
Shouldn't it be accurate if I were to use 'strong' instead of 'keen' to indicate the level of interest? You can if you want.
Thank you in advance for your valuable input!

Bhai.

 

[emsr2d2]

You can show all sorts of levels of interest in something. Here are some examples:

He showed a slight interest in the food.
They showed some interest in the film.
She showed a keen interest in tennis.