How to Use divert/distract attention in a Sentence

divert/distract attention

idiom

• 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
• 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
• 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
• Our president is stuck with too many ceremonial duties as head of state, such as greeting ambassadors and holding tedious state dinners, that divert attention from solving problems.
  — Sheril Kirshenbaum, Discover Magazine, 10 June 2010
• Though 2024 is an election year, which can divert attention to more headline-grabbing issues, my hope is the optimal care of cancer patients remains one that can garner grassroots enthusiasm and bipartisan support.
  — Samyukta Mullangi, STAT, 1 Mar. 2024
• In addition to the insurrection threat, Ethiopia is beset by political violence, hunger and poverty, and worsening religious tensions, problems that Abiy may want to divert attention from.
  — Mahad Darar, The Conversation, 13 Nov. 2023
• The new report tries to divert attention away from fertilizer bans in favor of other pollution-cutting measures, like removing septic tanks, when local governments should be doing both, Thaxton said.
  — Max Chesnes, Sun Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2024
• Focussing on the indignities of captive elephants or orcas can inadvertently divert attention from the much larger damage civilization has done to the natural world.
  — Lawrence Wright, The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2022
• Others say the new act is a government tool being used to divert attention from what some call more relevant causes, including passing police reform legislation and granting reparations in response to recent racial protests.
  — Dallas News, 6 July 2021

Last Updated: 27 Jun 2024