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🎲 An amusement 🎯 A false attack ↩️ A detour
diversion

diversion

13 5.2
A change that moves attention or action away from the main plan
  • noun
  • /dɪˈvɜrʒən/
translation icon : desvío
  • Innovative companies and municipalities forge ahead with programs that increase diversion rates while closely watching markets for recyclables.
  • water diversion
  • waste diversion
  • diversion program

I think to some extent that's a little bit of of diversion.

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Examples

  • The unexpected diversion in the road forced us to take a longer route.

  • "Overall, the facility had a 72.3 percent landfill diversion rate in 1995," he adds.

    Academic text (1996)

  • We took a little bit of a side diversion this time.

    Cyrus (2010)

  • A diversion to keep you from going into the park.

    The Park Is Mine (1986)

  • We had a slight diversion back there.

    Tsunambee (2017)

  • We've just received word that a water diversion operation is underway.

    Thirteen Lives (2022)

  • Because traditional recycling methods will not get Seattle to 60 percent diversion, the city examined 10 options.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Virtually every earlier canal site in the region involved diversion of water from ephemeral stream channels.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The last kinks in the river diversion project have been straightened out.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Self-haul and curbside yard trimmings diversion rose to 50,768 tons in 1994, up from 42,905 tons in 1989.

    Academic text (1995)

Synonyms

deviation
vsdiversion
25 5.3

A difference from what is usual or expected

is a physical or planned turning aside rather than any abstract departure
deflection
vsdiversion
4 6.0

How much an object bends or moves away from a straight line

is broader and can mean any detour in activity or concern
reroute
vsdiversion
1 4.2

A change that sends traffic onto a different road

is a general turning aside or detour that is not always planned
redirection
vsdiversion
1 4.2

Changing the direction or destination of people, things, and resources

focuses on turning aside as a deviation rather than purposeful change
deflexion
vsdiversion
9.7

Bending of a beam or other part so it is not straight

is more general, applying to detours of action or thought not just position
digression
vsdiversion
7.3

A short side trip from the main route during a journey

is not only temporary or journey related but any turning aside
divagation
vsdiversion
  • Archaic
9.9

A short move away from the main topic in speech or writing

is narrower, denoting a single turning aside rather than prolonged wandering

Antonyms

continuity
52 4.7

A situation where things stay the same or keep happening without big changes

How Indirect

diversion
13 5.2
reroute
1 4.2

Surface Forms

diversion singular
diversions plural

Morphology

diversion = divert (transparent) = divert + ion

A nominalisation of 'divert' where the sense 'turning aside' or 'detour' is preserved and obvious.

Etymology

Diversion comes from old Latin parts di- meaning 'apart' and vers- meaning 'turn', which literally means 'turning aside'. That is why a diversion can be a detour or change of course — something that makes you 'turn away' from the original route.