as in to distract
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy
according to police, the suspect had been derailed in recent months by mounting financial problems
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Examples of derail in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Controversy surrounding Jonathan Majors’s domestic abuse allegations and a series of middling movies has fully derailed that momentum, but the checks were already signed and filming wrapped for Agatha in May 2023.
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Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 21 Sep. 2024
While West holds only a minuscule margin of support in the state, siphoning even a sliver of Democratic support from Vice President Kamala Harris could derail her hopes of winning Pennsylvania this fall.
—Emily Hallas, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 17 Sep. 2024
On their last possession, wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase committed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that derailed a possible touchdown drive.
—Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 16 Sep. 2024
Conversations With Friends probed the ambiguities of friendship and affairs, while Rooney’s second novel, Normal People, published in the U.S. in 2019, charted how social class and miscommunication derailed a romance.
—Kate Dwyer, TIME, 19 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for derail 
Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 21 Sep. 2024
While West holds only a minuscule margin of support in the state, siphoning even a sliver of Democratic support from Vice President Kamala Harris could derail her hopes of winning Pennsylvania this fall.
—Emily Hallas, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 17 Sep. 2024
On their last possession, wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase committed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that derailed a possible touchdown drive.
—Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 16 Sep. 2024
Conversations With Friends probed the ambiguities of friendship and affairs, while Rooney’s second novel, Normal People, published in the U.S. in 2019, charted how social class and miscommunication derailed a romance.
—Kate Dwyer, TIME, 19 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for derail
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'derail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Derail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/derail. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.
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