- present participle of divert.
diverting
Americanadjective
Other Word 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.
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
He is accused of diverting $2 million in public funds to finance his first presidential campaign.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
The bosses of the world's biggest companies are diverting vast sums into these tools, partly with the knowledge that they could save money on headcount.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Trenches were carved into the ground, diverting water from the river to the many deep pits that had been dug.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
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.
