How to Use divert/distract attention in a Sentence

divert/distract attention

idiom
Definition of divert/distract attentionnext
  • His presence on the PP will divert attention from Larkin and elevate the whole first unit.
    — Detroit Free Press, 10 July 2023
  • Don’t try to make excuses or divert attention away from the issue.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes, 17 May 2022
  • Washington says the Kremlin is just trying to divert attention from its crimes in Ukraine.
    — Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2023
  • The only thing that could divert attention at that point is if another superstar announced her new album and dropped a pair of records on the same night.
    — Clover Hope, Pitchfork, 12 Feb. 2024
  • During the high-profile trial, state prosecutors argued that years of lies and theft were about to catch up to Murdaugh and the murders were a way to divert attention.
    — Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 24 May 2023
  • The swap may have been an effort by Putin’s government to divert attention from Russia’s flailing war efforts in Ukraine.
    — Peter Baker, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Dec. 2022
  • The swap may have been an effort by Mr. Putin’s government to divert attention from Russia’s flailing war efforts in Ukraine.
    — Peter Baker, New York Times, 8 Dec. 2022
  • In the 1960s, Israel used its claims about adversary Egypt's missile and nuclear efforts to divert attention from its work at Dimona — and may choose to do the same with Iran now.
    — Jon Gambrell, Star Tribune, 25 Feb. 2021
  • She was also charged for the 2016 murder of Louis Gumpenberger, which prosecutors allege was part of a plot to divert attention away from her and back to Russell in his wife's death.
    — Hannah Chubb, Peoplemag, 2 Aug. 2023
  • Critics could also accuse him of trying to use the crisis to divert attention from his domestic woes.
    — Josef Federman, USA TODAY, 7 Apr. 2023
  • We should also be concerned that Putin could do something radical to distract attention and regain the upper hand.
    — Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2023
  • The balloons appeared to be decoy targets meant to divert attention and waste ammunition, the statement said.
    — Sammy Westfall, Washington Post, 15 Feb. 2023
  • But extremists in the pro-Russia camp distract attention from people like Vera.
    — Gordon F. Sander, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 May 2023
  • Instead, the conversation is destined to divert attention away from Matt’s relationships and eat up screen time that could go to one-on-one dates and tender moments.
    — Ariana Romero, refinery29.com, 2 Mar. 2021
  • The opposition says the mayor’s arrest is an attempt to divert attention from the country’s economic woes.
    — CNN, 17 Nov. 2022
  • Ad hominim – attacking the person (not the issue) in order to divert attention to another topic and not deal with the original one.
    — Christine Comaford, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2024
  • Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the latest media reports as a bid to divert attention.
    — Carlo Angerer, NBC News, 8 Mar. 2023
  • Saudi officials said Iran is poised to carry out attacks on both the kingdom and Erbil, Iraq, in an effort to distract attention from domestic protests that have roiled the country since September.
    — Dion Nissenbaum, WSJ, 1 Nov. 2022
  • Slapdash mediation will only divert attention from the war’s most urgent tasks: to prevent further Russian land grabs and to support Ukraine’s effort to drive Russia back.
    — Michael Kimmage, WSJ, 2 Mar. 2023
  • But the developing situation in Ukraine is likely to distract attention from Biden’s pick, and some had speculated the president might even reschedule it.
    — John Fritze, USA TODAY, 26 Feb. 2022
  • The information offensive is also a way for Russia to divert attention from its invasion of Ukraine and portray itself as a champion of the Palestinians, Schafer said.
    — Dan De Luce, NBC News, 30 Apr. 2024
  • Advocates for the homeless describe the rulings from Boise and Grants Pass as narrow and limited, and say their impact has been exaggerated by cities seeking to divert attention from their own failings.
    — David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2024
  • Harold Stolper, who studies fare evasion enforcement and policing at Columbia University, said the offense has been a way to divert attention from financial crises and blame problems on those who don’t pay.
    — Heidi Pérez-Moreno, Washington Post, 17 June 2023
  • In response to this week’s suit, Justice sought to divert attention from the substance of the case by implying that the White House was using regulatory agencies for political purposes.
    — Ken Ward Jr., ProPublica, 1 June 2023
  • Many of the people pointing to cloud seeding are also climate change deniers who are trying to divert attention from what’s really happening, Mann and other scientists said.
    — Brittany Peterson, Twin Cities, 17 Apr. 2024
  • Human rights groups and advocates have accused Saudi Arabia of heavily investing in sports and hosting major sporting events as a way to divert attention from human rights abuse.
    — Natalie Kainz, NBC News, 22 Sep. 2023
  • Russian soldiers and bombs are no different from their propaganda weapons, which may not kill people directly, but justify these atrocities or divert attention and shift the focus from the main thing.
    — Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2022
  • The Ukrainian government rejected the proposal immediately, calling it an attempt by Putin to divert attention from the summit in the Swiss mountains.
    — Daniel Depetris, Chicago Tribune, 18 June 2024
  • These ruses were successful enough that Hitler considered the Normandy invasion, as it was initiated, was actually a ploy to divert attention from Calais.
    — Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 6 June 2024
  • The government’s media machine seized on the ULEZ narrative, taking the opportunity to divert attention from its rolling omnishambles.
    — Peter Guest, WIRED, 26 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'divert/distract attention.' 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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