diverting

American  

[dih-vur-ting, dahy-] / dɪˈvɜr tɪŋ, daɪ- /

adjective

1. serving to divert; entertaining; amusing.

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Other Word Forms

• divertingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of diverting

First recorded in 1645–55; divert + -ing ²

Explanation

Something that's diverting is a pleasant distraction. A movie on a long bus ride — even a bad movie — is diverting. The adjective diverting describes anything that grabs your attention, especially if it's entertaining and distracts from something less interesting. Spending time with a friend can be diverting when you're waiting to hear important news or get the results of a big test, and a good, diverting book is the perfect thing to take on a boring train commute. Diverting stems from the verb divert, or "distract," from its Latin root, divertere, "to turn in different directions."

Example Sentences

Obiang's government has also been accused of corruption and diverting the country's oil revenues for the benefit of the elite, which it denies.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

"By diverting waste from landfill where it would otherwise produce methane, a significantly more potent greenhouse gas and reducing reliance on fossil fuel-based energy sources, energy-from-waste can contribute to broader lifecycle emissions benefits," he said.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

Adding payments directly on X also opens the company up to native social commerce that bypasses traditional e-commerce checkout flows, potentially diverting volume from PayPal’s “crown jewel,” its branded-checkout button, according to Dolev.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

Braemar was diverting enormous resources to the advisory company of its board chairman, Bennett, the email continued.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

With no more than a brief conversation, Darwin had inserted a sluice into de Vries’s darting mind, diverting it forever.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• entertaining