divert/distract attention

idiom

: to try to keep people from noticing or thinking about something
He was trying to divert/distract attention away from his friend's mistake.

Examples of divert/distract attention in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
The covers helped identify the band, but in a way that was a little bit different — trying to divert attention away from ourselves. Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2024 Italian luxury sports car maker Ferrari will launch its first electric vehicle late next year, just in time to divert attention away from deliveries of its not-so-green 1,200 hp top-of-the-range $3.9 million F80 hybrid. Neil Winton, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2024 The United Kingdom, of course, had absolutely no reason to want Skripal dead, so Moscow’s claims seemed less like real arguments than a shoddy attempt to divert attention away from Russia and onto the West—a common aim of Kremlin propaganda. Boris Bondarev, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2022 The internal hiring process is time-consuming and can divert attention from other critical business activities. Allbusiness, Forbes, 4 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for divert/distract attention 

Dictionary Entries Near divert/distract attention

divert

divert/distract attention

divertedly

Cite this Entry

“Divert/distract attention.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/divert%2Fdistract%20attention. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.

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