unfocused
Americanadjective
-
not brought into focus; lacking proper focus.
an unfocused camera.
-
lacking a clear purpose or direction.
an unfocused meeting.
Etymology
Origin of unfocused
First recorded in 1885–90; un- 1 + focus ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )
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.
In the aftermath of that summer, a wounded Jean stumbles through her last two years of college, “berserk, unfocused, humiliating.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
Yet works of high seriousness were never his strong suit, as his rambling and distressingly unfocused Eisenhower Memorial in Washington showed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
Back then it was hard to get approval from the police, and the march was a chaotic, unfocused event.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2025
Since its inception beginning with 2013’s “Man of Steel,” the live-action films in the DCU were largely derided as being unfocused and dull, lacking the narrative thrust of their competitors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
From Salon ● Dec. 19, 2024
Barack and I studied little Malia, taking in the mystery of her rosebud lips, her dark fuzzy head and unfocused gaze, the herky-jerky way she moved her tiny limbs.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
