Sample Sentences for
focus
grouped by contextual meaning
(editor-reviewed)

focus as in:  Turn your focus to question #2.

Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
  • •
    This week, I'm focusing on finishing my research paper.
    focusing = concentrating
  • •
    My phone will be off for the next hour while I focus on an assignment.
    focus = concentrate
  • •
    "What do you think about people who focus on the not-so-good aspect of him?" she asks.  (source)
    focus = emphasize or pay attention to
▲ show less (of above)
Show 10 more with 10 word variations
  • •
    His entire attention was focused on the six-inch square of earth in front of him.  (source)
    focused = concentrating
  • •
    He felt dizzy, and couldn't focus his attention.  (source)
    focus = concentrate
  • •
    Almost from the moment they began to drop, they were focusing their Little Doctors on one thing only.  (source)
    focusing = concentrating
  • •
    "I did find it," his smile was wide and unfocused, as though not for me alone but for anyone and anything which wished to share this pleasure with him, "and it was really interesting to see."  (source)
    unfocused = concentrated (all in one direction)
    standard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unfocused means not and reverses the meaning of focused. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
  • •
    He turns and focuses on me for what, I'm pretty sure, is the first time all night. After several long moments of standing there being looked at, my eyes fill with tears.  (source)
    focuses = looks
  • •
    During the dinner he focussed all his resentment on a young woman.†  (source)
    unconventional spelling: Most English-speaking regions prefer to spell this focused.
  • •
    America's fast food chains were not launched by large corporations relying upon focus groups and market research.†  (source)
  • •
    Whole pages of it are filled with masses of figures, generally single numbers added up in batches, and then the totals added in batches again, as though he were focussing some account, as the auditors put it.  (source)
    focussing = concentrating
    unconventional spelling: Most English-speaking regions prefer to spell this focusing.
  • •
    As I prepare to leave she walks with me, half deaf and blind, under several ladders in her living room that balance paint and workmen, into the garden where there is a wild horse, a 193o car splayed flat on its axles and hundreds of flowering bushes so that her eyes swim out into the dark green and unfocussed purple.†  (source)
    standard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unfocussed means not and reverses the meaning of focussed. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
  • •
    Because there had not been an earthquake in Papua New Guinea that day, my parents were all hyperfocused on me, and so I could not hide this flash flood of anxiety.  (source)
    hyperfocused = excessively concentrating attention
    standard prefix: The prefix "hyper-" in hyperfocused means extremely or excessively. This is the same pattern as seen in words like hypersensitive, hyperactive, and hypercritical.
▲ show less (of above)

focus as in:  The focus of our study is...

•
Since we're running out of time, let's narrow our focus to just what needs to be done tomorrow.
focus = area where attention is concentrated
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
  • •
    The focus of this class is classic American Literature.
  • •
    My main focus is on getting into a college with a good reputation for preparing students for medical school.
  • •
    She likes to be the focus of attention.
    focus = where attention is concentrated
▲ show less (of above)
Show 10 more with 3 word variations
  • •
    You understand you're not the focus of any criminal charges, correct?  (source)
    focus = center
  • •
    He said he needed a focal point to get the church geared up.  (source)
    focal = area where attention is concentrated
  • •
    He was as tall as Billy, wore steel-rimmed tri-focals.†  (source)
  • •
    You know, America, I've been meaning to ask what your focus was as a Five.  (source)
    focus = place where attention is directed
  • •
    In fact, over time, my bedroom became the focal point of her house tour when anyone came to visit.  (source)
    focal = place where attention is concentrated
  • •
    Billy took off his tri-focals and his coat and his necktie and his shoes, and he closed the venetian blinds and then the drapes, and he lay down on the outside of the coverlet.†  (source)
  • •
    His focus narrowed to the ground in front of him.  (source)
    focus = place where attention is directed
  • •
    Enclosed by a hedge lay a series of cobblestone paths that wove among several circular brick planters, each with its own dogwood tree; in the center of the yard, serving as a focal point, was a three-tiered fountain that fed a large koi pond.  (source)
    focal = where attention is drawn
  • •
    Unless you pulled focus and stopped to examine your surroundings more closely, it was easy to forget that everything you were seeing was computer-generated.  (source)
    focus = where attention is concentrated or directed
  • •
    I could see that the low riser was going to be the focal point of the ceremonies.†  (source)
▲ show less (of above)

focus as in:  bring into focus; or out of focus

Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
  • •
    The discussion brought into focus an important difference of opinion.
    focus = view (as an area of attention)
  • •
    To rest your eyes while reading, look up and focus on something in the distance.
    focus = look (when you look at something, you eye's lens automatically adjusts to put it in focus)
  • •
    The picture is out of focus, but I think I recognize her.
    out of focus = in a state where something cannot be seen clearly
▲ show less (of above)
Show 10 more with 9 word variations
  • •
    Focus [the camera] on the trees behind the lake.
    focus = adjust its lens to get a clear picture
  • •
    Is the picture in focus.
    in focus = clear (sharp)
  • •
    The telescope is focused on the moon. Would you like to look?
    focused = adjusted [the lens] to make an image clear
  • •
    The blog is called Family-In Focus. Each entry discusses a common family challenge.
    in focus = in a state where something is in view and/or clear
  • •
    Things were sliding in and out of focus, and it seemed funny to me that I couldn't run in a straight line.  (source)
    out of focus = a state where something can be seen clearly
  • •
    Ender had trouble focusing on Colonel Graff. The man looked far away and very small, as if Ender could pick him up with tweezers and drop him in a pocket.  (source)
    focusing = adjusting vision (to see something clearly)
  • •
    She pointed toward the slightly-out-of-focus figure seated alone in the Arab-style cafe.†  (source)
  • •
    It's another nature show, jerky and unfocused.  (source)
    unfocused = with an unadjusted lens so the image isn't clear
    standard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unfocused means not and reverses the meaning of focused. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
  • •
    VO (as camera focuses on STEVE's face)  (source)
    focuses = zooms in (adjusting to show clearly)
  • •
    He saw their yellow eyes waxing and waning in the light, focusing and unfocusing.†  (source)
    standard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unfocusing means not and reverses the meaning of focusing. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
▲ show less (of above)

focus as with technical usage

Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
  • •
    The satellite focuses the signal into a narrow beam.
    focuses = concentrates
  • •
    One of the pilots had used a watch crystal as a magnifying glass to focus the sun and start a fire so they didn't have to eat the lizards raw.  (source)
    focus = concentrate at one spot
  • •
    You can't see through the shield to aim and focus the beams, but since the generator of the Ecstatic Shield is always in the exact center, it isn't hard to figure it out.  (source)
▲ show less (of above)
Show 10 more with 5 word variations
  • •
    Making straight for the steep cliff, where the churchyard hangs over the laneway to the East Pier so steeply that some of the flat tombstones, thruffsteans or through-stones, as they call them in Whitby vernacular, actually project over where the sustaining cliff has fallen away, it disappeared in the darkness, which seemed intensified just beyond the focus of the searchlight.  (source)
    focus = where light is concentrated
  • •
    The powers on a scope refer to the magnification of the focal length.  (source)
    focal = the distance between the center of the lens and where it is looking
  • •
    He'd never tried to do anything so focused and intense —but he shot a bolt of white-hot flames at the chain suspending the engine block above the Cyclops's head—aiming for the link that looked weaker than rest.  (source)
    focused = concentrated at a single point
  • •
    The foci of infection are steadily extending.†  (source)
  • •
    …others explore even remoter possibilities such as focusing the sun's rays through lenses suspended thousands of kilometres away in space, or producing artificial earthquakes and tidal waves by tapping the heat at the earth's centre.  (source)
    focusing = concentrating to a single point
  • •
    Perenelle quickly became familiar with the ancient systems of magic and began to practice in small ways, developing her skills, concentrating on how to channel and focus the energy of her aura.  (source)
    focus = concentrate at one spot
  • •
    And Christmas is the focal point for the children in our church.†  (source)
  • •
    Piggy stood behind him, islanded in a sea of meaningless color, while Ralph knelt and focused the glossy spot. Instantly the fire was alight, Piggy held out his hands and grabbed the glasses back.  (source)
    focused = concentrated sunlight rays by pointing them at the same spot
  • •
    Galileo's Illuminati, however, saw perfection in the ellipse as well, revering the mathematical duality of its twin foci.†  (source)
  • •
    I told Dick to hold the flashlight, focus it.  (source)
    focus = concentrate at one spot
▲ show less (of above)