How to use deflect in a sentence

35 example sentences · verb

Deflect means to make (something) deviate from its original path or position. Example: “The defender deflected the cross into his own net.”

Examples of deflect by meaning

verbTo touch the ball, often unwittingly, after a shot or a sharp pass, thereby making it unpredictable for the other...

The defender deflected the cross into his own net.

verbTo avoid addressing (questions, criticism, etc.).

The Prime Minister deflected some increasingly pointed questions by claiming he had an appointment.

verbTo divert (attention, etc.).

Critics suggest that Fernández, an unashamed populist and nationalist, is seeking to deflect attention from social disharmony at home.2013 January 3, Luke Harding, Uki Goni, “Argentina urges UK to hand back Falklands and 'end colonialism”, in The Guardian

More sentences with deflect

King John cast his predecessor in a negative light to deflect criticism of his own questionable decisions.From the entry cast
Looking back, this joking around was a good way to deflect my fears.2009, John C. Hallenborg, Life, Sex, and Prostate Cancer Surgery, →ISBN. From the entry wet noodle
The name (and presence of r.s.bb) might deflect much of the chaff.1994 May 3, Jeff Drummond, “the case against r.s.bb.m.”, in rec.sport.baseball (Usenet), archived from the original on 08 Dec 2025. From the entry robomoderator
These deimatic eye spots do not have the same function as those that deflect predatory attack.1988, John L. Cloudsley-Thompson, Evolution and Adaptation of Terrestrial Arthropods, page 122. From the entry deimatic
The Modolvan government said Russian gas export Gazprom refused to supply contracted gas to Tansdniestra, as Russia deflected blame to Ukraine.2025 January 7, “Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy says nearly 15,000 Russian troops have died in Kursk”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry Transdniestria
Mount’s low cross deflected, Olivier Giroud backheeled for Pulisic and Arsenal’s defenders seemed to react in slow motion.2020 August 1, David Hytner, “Aubameyang at the double as Arsenal turn tables on Chelsea to win FA Cup”, in The Guardian. From the entry backheel
How did she deflect back to swimming again?2017 October 10, Kathryn Erskine, The Incredible Magic of Being: The Incredible Magic of Being, Scholastic Inc., →ISBN. From the entry helicoptery
Whenever I asked, they deflected all conversation away from it.2013 February 20, Steven Brill, “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us”, in Time, Time Warner, archived from the original on 26…. From the entry chargemaster
In a drab first half, Ryan Shotton's drive was deflected on to a post and Jon Walters twice went close.2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 – 2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 26 Mar 2019. From the entry drab
Nasri then got in on the act, rounding off a counter-attack with a drilled finish that deflected off Jason Lowe.2011 October 1, David Ornstein, “Blackburn 0 - 4 Man City”, in BBC Sport. From the entry get in on the act
A batter is bowled out whether or not the ball is touched or deflected into the stumps by the batter.2010, Mark Butcher, Paul Abraham, Learn to Play Cricket: Teach Yourself, page A-65. From the entry out
This massive skull is scored by deflected mass accelerator shots.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Odd Skull, Maji, Vamshi System…. From the entry xenobiology
My cigarette has burned down to near smokelessness, hardly any company to deflect being in this bar alone.2007, Craig Sherborne, Muck: A Memoir, New York: Norton, published 2010, page 150. From the entry smokelessness
Pavanaz tripped into hyperspace, burned the cruiser with his exhaust, threw all power to his screens and deflected the carrier's hypermissiles.2006, Brian Lumley, Screaming Science Fiction: Horrors from Out of Space, Subterranean Press, →ISBN, page 124. From the entry hypermissile
Better magickers were given fragments of the ball he'd rescued and used them as foci to deflect incoming shots.2002, Michael A. Stackpole, When dragons rage. From the entry magicker
His genially skew-whiff posture for the camera may be intended to deflect easy attempts to get an angle on him.1997, Australian Literary Studies, volume 18, University of Tasmania, page 199. From the entry skew-whiff
Most of these relatives don't know I'm gay and deflecting these questions put to the test the art of diplomacy.1983 August 13, Ray Thomas, “Rural Canada”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 5, page 5. From the entry diplomacy
It might be wary of potential criticism that a poison pill is deflecting the concerns of a highly vocal member of its community.2022 April 14, Lauren Hirsch, “What happens next in Musk’s Twitter takeover offer.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry poison pill
It was widely seen as an attempt to deflect attention from the Comey controversy and re-establish some authority at the briefing room podium.2017 May 16, Dylan Byers, “Does anyone in Trump's White House have credibility?”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 22 Mar 2025. From the entry authority
Yes, Juve were unfortunate, in the extreme, with the deflected goal from Casemiro that gave Madrid a 2-1 lead just after the hour.2017 June 3, Daniel Taylor, “Real Madrid win Champions League as Cristiano Ronaldo double defeats Juve”, in The Guardian (London). From the entry crumple
As Moldova understandably tired after a night of ball chasing, Everton left-back Baines scored his first international goal as his deflected free-kick totally wrong-footed Namasco.2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport. From the entry tire
Sensing that the tall woman was getting ready to pistolwhip his friend, Calque raised his voice in an effort to deflect her attention.2010, Mario Reading, The Mayan Codex. From the entry pistolwhip
They show that curved inclusion trails may form even with no coupling, as the porphyroblast overgrows foliation that is deflected around it.1996, Eric C. Beam, Modeling Growth and Rotation of Porphyroblasts and Inclusion Trails, D.G. De Paor, Structural Geology and Personal…. From the entry foliation
Small mirrors have been placed in the windows of surrounding buildings to deflect the evil that is supposed to emanate from the bank.1990 March 22, Barbara Basler, “Hong Kong Journal; Is the Skyscraper Looking Daggers at Neighbors?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC…. From the entry fung shui
Young Bob's oddly penetrant voice was raised, to his father's uneasiness, in opposition to Grayson, and thus providentially deflected the ordeal from Charles.1952, Vincent Sheean, Rage of the Soul, page 82. From the entry penetrant
In other words, Ballard's pseudo-scientific tales remap social history's penchant for psychoanalysing the impact of historical atrocity (World War II) by deflecting it onto another historical disaster (Vietnam).2016, Jeanette Baxter, J.G. Ballard's Surrealist Imagination, →ISBN. From the entry history repeats itself
By properly choosing the parameters, the diffracted beam can be deflected out of the laser resonant cavity, thereby providing an energy loss which is sufficient to Q-spoil the cavity.2013, Walter Koechner, Solid-State Laser Engineering, page 483. From the entry Q-spoil
He met Luis Suarez's cross at the far post, only for Chelsea keeper Petr Cech to show brilliant reflexes to deflect his header on to the bar.2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport. From the entry on
Adding to the lack of vegetarian identity some business owners are purposely “deflecting attention away from a product’s vegetarianness . . . to avoid the dreaded pitfall of ‘veg-phobia.’”2010, Laura K. Hahn, quoting the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, “I’m Too Sexy for Your Movement: An Analysis of the Failure of the Animal Rights…. From the entry vegetarianness
In Japan’s case, social imperialism operated both to diffuse radical demands of factory workers and to deflect class tensions in a rural economy battered by the effects of industrialization.1998, Louise Young, chapter 1, in Japan’s Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism, Berkeley: University of…. From the entry social imperialism
The teenager, as beloved a full-back as any in these parts since Danny McGrain was tearing it up, cut in, shot and saw his attempt deflected in off Sterling's boot.2016 September 28, Tom English, “Celtic 3–3 Manchester City”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), BBC Sport. From the entry cue
De Jong's shot was unwittingly deflected on to his own post by Clark and then Dzeko headed Johnson's cross wide at the far post when he should have restored equality.2011 January 22, Phil McNulty, “Aston Villa 1 - 0 Man City”, in BBC. From the entry tick down

Meaning of deflect

verb To make (something) deviate from its original path or position.
verb To touch the ball, often unwittingly, after a shot or a sharp pass, thereby making it unpredictable for the other players.
verb To deviate from an original path or position.

Full definition of deflect

Questions about deflect in a sentence

How do you use deflect in a sentence?: Deflect is used as a verb. For example: “The defender deflected the cross into his own net.”
What is a short sentence with deflect?: “How did she deflect back to swimming again?”
What does deflect mean?: Deflect means to make (something) deviate from its original path or position.

Adapted from Wiktionary: deflect (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use deflect in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/deflect. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.