VocabularyFast
deflect in the wild
Real-life situations where you can use this word
During a team meeting, Sarah's manager brought up the recent project setback. She felt a wave of panic, knowing she'd made a crucial error. Instead of admitting responsibility, Sarah quickly looked for an excuse, hoping to shift the focus away from herself. She pointed to the poorly written user guide as the primary reason for the mistake.
No, it wasn't my fault, the instructions were unclear; I tried to deflect the blame onto the manual.
Sarah is attempting to avoid blame by redirecting responsibility elsewhere, perfectly embodying the meaning of 'deflect'.
In the heat of battle, Sir Kaelen faced a volley of enemy arrows. He saw one particularly menacing shaft flying directly towards his chest. With a surge of adrenaline, he instinctively brought his heavy, metal shield up to intercept the projectile, hoping to alter its deadly trajectory.
The knight raised his shield, managing to deflect the arrow just before it hit him.
The shield physically alters the path of the arrow, successfully 'deflecting' it from its intended target.
At a casual dinner party, an overzealous acquaintance cornered John and started prying into his past relationships. John felt uncomfortable discussing his ex-partner at length. He skillfully steered the conversation towards a shared interest in vintage cars, hoping to avoid the uncomfortable topic.
When asked about his ex-girlfriend, John quickly changed the subject, trying to deflect the awkward question.
John is intentionally changing the topic to avoid an uncomfortable subject, which is a way to 'deflect' a question.
The opposing team was bringing intense pressure, sending a linebacker straight towards the quarterback. To avoid a sack, the quarterback quickly scanned the field and saw his running back open for a short pass. He snapped the ball and fired it out, hoping the quick play would draw the defender away from him.
The quarterback expertly threw a quick pass to the running back, trying to deflect the blitzing linebacker's attention.
The quarterback's action is designed to divert the linebacker's attention and pressure away from himself, thus 'deflecting' the defensive play.
During a press conference, a reporter asked a pointed question about the government's recent policy failures. The politician, unprepared for such a direct challenge, responded with generalities and platitudes, avoiding any specific commitment or admission of fault. The aim was to appear responsive without actually tackling the difficult questions.
Instead of addressing the criticism directly, the politician used vague statements to deflect from the core issues.
The politician is skillfully maneuvering around direct criticism, 'deflecting' the tough questions without truly answering them.