focus

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   The thing that gets the most attention or effort, or the act of giving your full attention to it.

   Grammar: Often singular: the focus of the meeting; uncountable in lose focus.

   Patterns

   • the focus of something
   • a focus on something
   • lose focus

   The focus of this week's class is writing clear emails.

   With exams ahead, her focus is on revising every night.

   The scandal became the focus of media attention.

2. 2verbintransitive

   To put your attention or effort on one particular thing rather than on others.

   Grammar: No object; usually followed by on: focus on the road.

   Patterns

   • focus on something
   • focus on doing something

   I can't focus when the television is on.

   The study focuses on teenagers who sleep too little.

   Let's focus on solving the problem, not on blame.

3. 3verbtransitive or intransitive

   To adjust a lens, camera or your eyes so that an image appears sharp and clear.

   Grammar: Takes an object when you adjust a device (focus the camera); no object when it is your eyes (my eyes can't focus).

   Patterns

   • focus something on something
   • focus on something

   She focused the telescope on the bright planet.

   After the surgery, his eyes took a while to focus.

   The camera focuses automatically in low light.

4. 4noununcountabletechnical

   The point where light rays meet, or the state in which an image looks sharp and clear.

   Grammar: Used in phrases such as in focus and out of focus.

   Patterns

   • in focus
   • out of focus

   The background of the photo is out of focus.

   Turn the ring until the picture comes into focus.

   The lens brings the sunlight to a focus on the paper.

Word forms

Common combinations

focus on

The report focuses on rural schools.

lose focus

I lose focus after about an hour of reading.

sharpen the focus

The editor asked us to sharpen the focus of the article.

main focus

The main focus of the project is cost reduction.

out of focus

Most of the holiday pictures were out of focus.

focus group

A focus group tested the new packaging.

Synonyms and how they differ

concentrate

Concentrate stresses mental effort on a task, while focus can also mean choosing one aim over many.

center

As a noun, center suggests the middle of a thing, whereas focus suggests what draws attention.

emphasis

Emphasis means the extra weight put on a point, while focus is about where attention is directed.

zero in

Zero in on is more informal and suggests narrowing down quickly onto one exact target.

Opposites

Word family

focused adjective

concentrating well and not easily distracted

unfocused adjective

lacking clear aim or sharp attention

refocus verb

to change what you give attention to

focal adjective

relating to a focus, as in focal point

Commonly confused: focus or foci?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “focus”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words