divert
Americanverb (used with object)
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diverts,
present (3rd person singular)
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diverted,
past participle, past
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diverting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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diverts,
present (3rd person singular)
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diverted,
past participle, past
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diverting
present participle
verb
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to turn (a person or thing) aside from a course; deflect
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(tr) to entertain; amuse
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(tr) to distract the attention of
Synonym Usage
See amuse.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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diverternoun
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predivertverb (used with object)
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redivertverb (used with object)
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divertibleadjective
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divertingadjective
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divertiveadjective
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undivertedadjective
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undivertibleadjective
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divertedlyadverb
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divertinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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divertsimple
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divertssimple
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have divertedperfect
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has divertedperfect
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am divertingprogressive
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are divertingprogressive
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is divertingprogressive
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have been divertingperfect progressive
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has been divertingperfect progressive
Past
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divertedsimple
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had divertedperfect
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was divertingprogressive
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were divertingprogressive
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had been divertingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of divert
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin dīvertere, from dī- di- 2 + vertere “to turn”
Explanation
To divert means to shift or turn from one thing to another. A magician might attempt to divert your attention as he shoves the rabbit into the hat. The police will divert traffic if there has been an accident that blocks the road, and it's a good idea to divert some of your income into a savings account so you don't spend it all. Are you throwing a surprise party for a friend at his house? Have a neighbor divert him for a little while if he comes home early so that you can finish getting ready. While these uses concern physically guiding something to a different location, divert can also be used to mean "distract" or "entertain." If your friend can't stop worrying about her grades, you might want to divert her with the latest school gossip.
Vocabulary lists containing divert
The Outsiders
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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The Pearl
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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.
See Examples For:
On the journey back to London, his condition deteriorated to such an extent that a decision was taken to divert the team coach to a hospital in Nottingham so he could receive treatment.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
In a televised address on Tuesday night, Barrow acknowledged the hardship caused by the blackouts but warned protesters against damaging public infrastructure, saying it would only worsen the disruption and divert money towards repairs.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, now a leading candidate for governor, and divert the money to Becerra’s then-chief of staff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
British Airways said it was forced to cancel or divert more than 100 flights, impacting tens of thousands of its customers.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
She seemed to divert attention away from us, and away from Peter in particular, which was of course just what we wanted.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
It did strike me as odd, however, that “Tony” is forged on a factual alteration that diverts Tony from the kitchen far too often — the movie’s cardinal sin.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
Yet even the best projections can crumble if, say, a parent loses a high-paying job or diverts money from their own retirement account to fund a 529 plan.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
Led by Susan Angelo, Jan Wikstrom and Ellen Geer, this ensemble, under the direction of Willow Geer, diverts and distracts from the mustier aspects of Coward’s style.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Supervising banks for reputational risk also diverts “resources from more salient risks without adding material value from a safety and soundness perspective or ensuring greater compliance with the law,” they add.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
Instinctively, my hands fold like I’m praying, and then I extend my arms forward, cutting through the splendor as it diverts in either direction, barely avoiding me on either side.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Saudi Arabia diverted crude across the desert to the Red Sea, while the United Arab Emirates used its pipeline to the port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, but those didn’t fill the gap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Ships being inspected, diverted or blocked would be a completely different story.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
Aylo said that updates to the Act requiring age verification had "not achieved its goal of protecting minors" and had "diverted traffic to darker, unregulated corners of the internet".
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Around 90 flights had been diverted because of the outage, he said early Monday afternoon, and delays compounded at Newark and Philadelphia—the hardest-hit airports—with spillover disruptions at the other New York City airports and Boston.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
Into the restaurant they’ll run screaming, the poor fox running for his life but the monkeys all too easily diverted by the sight of some fresh fruit.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
However, critics said the plans would not save money, while diverting resources from front-line services and leaving councils more remote from their communities.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Writer-director Jacob Chase, who previously made the 2020 horror film “Come Play,” downplays gore in favor of jump scares and mildly diverting set pieces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Starting in early 2025, Salisbury oversaw the unprecedented reassignment of more than 6,000 agents to immigration enforcement, diverting most of the agency from its normal duties.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Harry Potter fans succeeded in diverting a multimillion-pound power link between the UK and Ireland after they complained it would disturb a "memorial" to Dobby the House Elf.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
“Widge can see the past,” Poppet says suddenly, diverting the conversation.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
