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
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 
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
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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Cite this Entry
“Divert/distract attention.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/divert%2Fdistract%20attention. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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