Divert

//daɪˈvɜːt// verb

verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To turn aside from a course. transitive

    "The workers diverted the stream away from the road."

  2. 2
    send on a course or in a direction different from the planned or intended one wordnet
  3. 3
    To distract. transitive

    "Don't let him divert your attention; keep your eye on the ball."

  4. 4
    turn aside; turn away from wordnet
  5. 5
    To entertain or amuse (by diverting the attention) transitive

    "We are amused by a tale, diverted by a comedy."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    withdraw (money) and move into a different location, often secretly and with dishonest intentions wordnet
  2. 7
    To turn aside; to digress. intransitive, obsolete

    "I diverted to see one of the prince's palaces."

  3. 8
    occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
amusedeviateabsorbabstractabusealter

Example

More examples

"She could divert herself from the anxieties."

Etymology

From Middle English diverten, Old French divertir (“to turn or go different ways, part, separate, divert”), from Latin di- (“apart”) + vertere (“to turn”); see verse.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.