diverting
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of diverting
Explanation
Something that's diverting is a pleasant distraction. A movie on a long bus ride — even a bad movie — is diverting. The adjective diverting describes anything that grabs your attention, especially if it's entertaining and distracts from something less interesting. Spending time with a friend can be diverting when you're waiting to hear important news or get the results of a big test, and a good, diverting book is the perfect thing to take on a boring train commute. Diverting stems from the verb divert, or "distract," from its Latin root, divertere, "to turn in different directions."
Vocabulary lists containing diverting
A Wrinkle in Time
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12 More Interesting Ways to Say "interesting"
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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A large number of police officers have been deployed in Glasgow and have been diverting the protesters away from the city centre.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
Elon Musk is going all-in on artificial intelligence, but his xAI has been gobbling up SpaceX’s cash, diverting attention away from the rocket-launch and satellite operations.
From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026
Today, too many adults are in on the act, diverting school time to their own priorities.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
Obiang's government has also been accused of corruption and diverting the country's oil revenues for the benefit of the elite, which it denies.
From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026
And by catching and circumventing threatening behavior early, there was a good chance of diverting those students toward a more positive path.
From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
