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)
-
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)
-
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
-
are focusingprogressive
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are focussingprogressive
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is focusingprogressive
-
is focussingprogressive
-
have been focusingperfect progressive
-
have been focussingperfect progressive
-
has been focusingperfect progressive
-
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:
That focus on quarterback protection helped Eck weather a crisis before New Mexico’s season even began, when presumed starter Jack Layne was ruled out for the year with an injury to his throwing elbow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
This time Trump's focus was on the Oval Office, which he has bedecked with gold ornaments since returning to power last year, and the neighboring Cabinet Room.
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
Ronaldo chose to focus on his Portuguese fans in his statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
"They are courageous, determined women and our focus has always been on them, not Russell Brand."
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
Evelyn adds, “Deep breaths, focus, take your time. One step, then another.”
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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
The line through the foci is called the transverse axis.
From Textbooks ● Sep. 23, 2020
What can be said about the symmetry of the graph of an ellipse with center at the origin and foci along the y-axis?
From Textbooks ● Sep. 23, 2020
Identify the center, vertices, co-vertices, and foci of the ellipse.
From Textbooks ● Sep. 23, 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
Their approach focuses on a special type known as an "Andreev qubit," which can generate an oscillating electric supercurrent through its own quantum behavior.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026
The Everton number 10 has turned down call-ups to play for the Republic of Ireland as he focuses on his dream of trying to represent the Three Lions.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
Prevost was a passionate ambassador of Francis's encyclical "Laudato Si,'" which focuses on caring for the planet as "our common home."
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
In that 1919 essay, Freud focuses on the doppelgänger, or “double,” noting how we twin with dolls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
He focuses his mind, doesn't want to be numb.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The trust also includes Chase Farm hospital, which focusses on planned surgery - such as orthopaedics and ear, nose and throat.
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2025
"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 analysis above focusses our attention on the impact on individual behaviour, where we regard the marginal calculation by agents themselves.
From Definition & Reality in the General Theory of Political Economy by Thomas Colignatus
On the chef's LinkedIn profile, he describes himself as someone who, throughout his career, has focused on "delivering exceptional food" and "improving business performance".
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
The logic: Its balance sheet was strong enough to support the two resulting companies, and the breakup would create more agile, focused firms, report Anna Wilde Mathews and Alexander Saeedy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
The outlet reported Wednesday that “He and Jen are staying focused on preparing for the baby and supporting their kids.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
He believes investors who can’t live without that extra 1% return are too focused on the returns when they should be thinking first about the risk they’ll accept to get that.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
The two girls are so focused on talking and laughing with each other that they barely notice the rain or that I’m following them.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
But that didn't stop its shares from surging nearly 10 percent on Thursday, as investors focussed on its profit outlook.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
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
The deterioration of that relationship was not the only highly personal situation the court focussed on.
From BBC ● May 15, 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
Musk has downplayed the sales slump at Tesla, focusing on the company’s future as a maker of autonomous vehicles and taxis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
The only catch, if there is one, is that Buffett’s approach is a long-term strategy — focusing on investment horizons longer than a decade.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026
Investors are focusing on U.S. election results as well as domestic earnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
Rather than focusing primarily on the energy of particle jets, they examined how the plasma appears to reduce the production of certain energetic particles.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026
I distracted myself by focusing on the birds that had perched on the tree stumps, one holding its wings fully outstretched as if to dry its feathers in the breeze.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
"I think there's a lot of things to say about where we're focussing our attention and where we're putting our money."
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
It has been promoted as a means of bringing people together in the shared story of their traumatic past, with "reparations" quite literally focussing on "repair" at a very human level.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
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
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
