focus
Americannoun
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focuses,
plural
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focusses,
plural (especially British)
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foci
plural (especially British)
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a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity.
The need to prevent a nuclear war became the focus of all diplomatic efforts.
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close attention or concentration.
Some of the warning signs indicating you should pull over: drifting between lanes, repeated yawning, tailgating, and trouble maintaining focus.
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the ability to concentrate one’s attention or to sustain concentration.
Mindfulness and meditation are often suggested to help manage stress, increase awareness of emotions, and improve focus.
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Physics. a point at which rays of light, heat, or other radiation meet after being refracted or reflected.
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Optics.
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the focal point of a lens, on which rays converge or from which they deviate.
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the focal length of a lens; the distance from a focal point to a corresponding principal plane.
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the clear and sharply defined condition of an image.
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the position of a viewed object or the adjustment of an optical device necessary to produce a clear image.
in focus; out of focus.
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Geometry. (of a conic section) a point having the property that the distances from any point on a curve to it and to a fixed line have a constant ratio for all points on the curve.
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Geology. the point of origin of an earthquake.
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Pathology. the primary center from which a disease develops or in which it localizes.
verb (used with object)
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focuses,
present (3rd person singular)
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focused,
past participle, past
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focussed,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
focusing,
present participle
-
focussing
present participle (especially British)
-
to bring to a focus or into focus; cause to converge on a perceived point.
to focus the lens of a camera.
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to concentrate.
to focus one's thoughts;
to focus troop deployment in the east.
verb (used without object)
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focuses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
focused,
past participle, past
-
focussed,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
focusing,
present participle
-
focussing
present participle (especially British)
-
to be or become focused.
My eyes have trouble focusing on distant objects.
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to direct one's attention or efforts.
Students must focus in class.
noun
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a point of convergence of light or other electromagnetic radiation, particles, sound waves, etc, or a point from which they appear to diverge
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another name for focal point focal length
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optics the state of an optical image when it is distinct and clearly defined or the state of an instrument producing this image
the picture is in focus
the telescope is out of focus
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a point upon which attention, activity, etc, is directed or concentrated
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geometry a fixed reference point on the concave side of a conic section, used when defining its eccentricity
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the point beneath the earth's surface at which an earthquake or underground nuclear explosion originates Compare epicentre
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pathol the main site of an infection or a localized region of diseased tissue
verb
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to bring or come to a focus or into focus
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to fix attention (on); concentrate
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The degree of clarity with which an eye or optical instrument produces an image.
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See focal point
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A central point or region, such as the point at which an earthquake starts.
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Mathematics A fixed point or one of a pair of fixed points used in generating a curve such as an ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola.
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The region of a localized bodily infection or disease.
Usage
Where does focus come from? What does the word focus bring to your mind? Maybe you think of a photograph that is clear and sharply defined. Or perhaps you recall a teacher tsk-tsking you to pay attention in class. But what about a fireplace?Well, the word focus comes directly from the Latin focus, which meant “fireplace” or “hearth” (that is, the floor of a fireplace). This is what focus originally meant in English when the word entered the language around 1635–45, though that sense has been extinguished, as it were. But the word focus burned on in other ways. As the 1600s unfolded, focus was given new meanings in the great scientific literature of that age, which were largely written in what’s known as New Latin. In the 1650s, the influential English philosopher and author Thomas Hobbes used focus for a kind of fixed point in geometry. So did Isaac Newton—you know, of gravity fame—in the 1690s. Other applications of the word focus in the late 1600s came about in the fields of medicine and physics. In physics, a focus is “a point at which rays of light, heat, or other radiation meet after being refracted or reflected.” Perhaps you can imagine how a fireplace or a hearth—contained areas and sources of heat and light—was likened to such a point in math and science. Dig deeperThe word focus took on a number of senses in optics, specifically “the point on a lens on which rays converge or from which they deviate.” A more familiar sense of focus is “the clear and sharply defined condition of an image,” as when the image isn’t blurry. Optics has also given us the expressions in focus and out of focus, which can be used both literally and figuratively. From these various ideas of clarity and convergence in optics arises one of the more common, everyday ways we use the word focus today: “a central point, as a of attention, activity, or activity.” For example, Finding a cure for cancer was the focus of his long career. Focus also refers to ability to concentrate, as in The teacher felt the students struggled with their focus. These senses of focus had spread by the early 1800s, around when various verb forms of focus take off. The adjective form of focus is focal.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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focusernoun
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misfocusverb
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refocusverb
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overfocusverb (used with object)
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focusableadjective
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misfocusedadjective
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misfocussedadjective
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self-focusedadjective
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self-focusingadjective
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unfocusingadjective
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well-focusedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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focussimple
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focusessimple
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have focusedperfect
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have focussedperfect
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has focusedperfect
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has focussedperfect
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am focusingprogressive
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am focussingprogressive
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are focusingprogressive
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are focussingprogressive
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is focusingprogressive
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is focussingprogressive
-
have been focusingperfect progressive
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have been focussingperfect progressive
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has been focusingperfect progressive
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has been focussingperfect progressive
Past
-
focusedsimple
-
focussedsimple
-
had focusedperfect
-
had focussedperfect
-
was focusingprogressive
-
was focussingprogressive
-
were focusingprogressive
-
were focussingprogressive
-
had been focusingperfect progressive
-
had been focussingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of focus
First recorded in 1635–45; Latin: “fireplace, hearth”
Explanation
Focus is something that camera lenses and sleepy students are always being asked to do. For cameras, it means finding a point where the subject is clear or "in focus." For students, it means paying attention. Focus is all about finding a center — of a parabolic curve, of a lens, of a meditative state. In Latin, focus meant 'domestic hearth,' which just goes to show that not much has changed — since kitchens remain the focus of the modern home. Focus can be used as a verb, as in "I need to focus on my work, so I can play video games later;" and as a noun, as in "What is the focus of this essay? I can't tell, since the writer seems to be all over the place."
Vocabulary lists containing focus
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 2
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The Language of Standardized Tests, List 1
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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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:
For today, the focus is likely to be on the Japanese Finance Ministry’s auction of about 600 billion yen of 30-year JGBs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Meanwhile, activists like McCollum have expanded their focus to opposing all hyperscale data centers, taking Lavina’s perspective that bigger facilities are not worth the potential economic payoff.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
"Our immediate focus is to support an orderly process, provide clarity wherever possible, and work with the relevant court-appointed administrators to preserve viable activities and employment where circumstances allow."
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
“They all have different opinions. There’s no question about that. But at the end of the day, my job is to keep it about football, keep the focus on winning. That’s why we’re here.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
When I blinked, the last message came back into focus: Bye forever.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
The fasting mice had better blood values, less fatty liver and liver inflammation and above all: they developed less liver cancer and had fewer cancer foci in the liver.
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2024
An ellipse is the set of all points in the plane the sum of whose distances from two fixed points, called the foci, is a constant.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
A line drawn through the foci intersect the ellipse in two points.
From Textbooks ● May 6, 2020
The Sun is one of the foci of the elliptical orbit.
From Textbooks ● May 6, 2020
Even therapeutic measures have the important result not only of curing the patient but of reducing the foci of infection.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Earnings growth was concentrated at Siemens' Smart Infrastructure business, which supplies electrical equipment for data centres and other industrial customers, as well as the Digital Industries division, which focuses on software to automate processes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Her work focuses on the social dynamics of wealth and the powerful people who shape culture from behind closed doors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Krysta Hawkins is a writer from Moreno Valley whose work focuses on culture and music.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
But his book focuses on the vital role We the People—specifically civil society groups and activism—play in the work of making a more perfect Union.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
Annabelle focuses on the daily steps, and she keeps the uproar away, as if it’s happening to someone else.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
Unlike Orban, who waxes lyrical on global politics, Magyar focusses on domestic issues such as healthcare, education, transport and rural depopulation in his speeches.
From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026
"The metallic tip acts like an antenna and focusses the electromagnetic field in a tiny area below its apex."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2024
The effect is comparable in certain respects to when a camera focusses on one subject and blurs out the foreground and background.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2024
“This shocking news focusses our minds on Michael’s wife Clare and their sons,” said Roy Taylor, a professor of medicine and metabolism at Newcastle University who co-authored “The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet” with Mosley.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 7, 2024
The reason for this is that the analysis focusses only on the link between wage costs and productivity.
From Definition & Reality in the General Theory of Political Economy by Colignatus, Thomas
Smalling has plans for his career after playing but presently, he is focused on finding a new club.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Metro’s count, conducted by 62 employees, riders and outreach teams, focused on stations, rights-of-way, and parking lots, and was separate from Los Angeles County’s annual count of unhoused individuals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
But in 2026, front offices are focused on what he doesn’t do.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
“Discussions of hospice reform should be focused on first stopping any fraudulent activity from wasting Medicare dollars, which would result in greater savings than those identified in this report.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
Because Russia—then known as the Soviet Union—was a Communist nation, propaganda in the United States focused on anti-Communist messaging.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Across Caracas and La Guaira, many were focussed instead on Sunday services in churches to remember those lost and still missing.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
She said previous studies had focussed more on porpoises but the picture "remained unclear" for common dolphins.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Downing Street declined to comment on the essay before it was published, but said Sir Keir was "fully focussed on delivering change for working people".
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
Police soon focussed on Nat Fraser – but the inquiry ran into two major problems.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2026
“Partly on his interest being focussed on what he calls ‘the soul,’ which he persists in regarding as an entity independent of the physical environment, whereas, as I tried to point out to him ...”
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
Investors are focusing on developments in the Middle East after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday the U.S. could reach a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz “today or tomorrow.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Recently, the company has been focusing on its major tentpole franchises.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
He added that Badenoch had instead offered him a position as an adviser to the party's Culture and Integration Commission, focusing "on how young men become radicalised".
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Government adviser Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir said authorities were focusing on training to help workers adapt to changing industrial needs.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Since my slime stuff is at Mom’s, I’m focusing on getting ready for the recital and practicing my music instead.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
Vaughan said Buttler is focussing too much on his technique while attempting to get out of his rut.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
The NHS was thought to have only two weeks' supply in stock and so was focussing on emergency patients and the most complex cases on the waiting list.
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026
What is the multi-trillion pound industry focussing on in 2026?
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2026
He says rather than focussing on extending life-span, we should instead strive for healthy years lived.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2025
Occasionally, focussing on a linguistic alteration can mislead us into thinking that something important has happened when it hasn’t, or that something happened at a particular moment when it actually happened earlier.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
