focused

1. 1
   concentratingadjective

   Giving all of one's effort and attention to achieving a particular goal.

   The team remained focused on delivering the project before the deadline.

   Investors stayed focused on long-term growth despite the sudden market dip.

   UsageUsually followed by on before the goal: focused on the deadline, focused on long-term growth.

   Similarintent, determined, single-minded, dedicated, committed

   Oppositedistracted, scattered, aimless

   Note

   Here the participle has become a true adjective, and the test is that it grades: more focused, most focused, as in a more focused team. It describes a steady state of mind, while a single act of directing attention belongs to the verb's past forms.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of focus.

   The scientist focused the microscope on the tiny tissue sample.

   They focused their efforts on rebuilding the bridge after the flood.

   UsageOften with on for the target: focused the camera on the bird, focused on the task.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs: simple past (she focused the lens) and past participle (it has focused). The verb behind it runs from optics to attention. Rays and lenses are focused with an object, a camera focuses by itself, and a person focuses on a task with no direct object. That last use is closest to the adjective of steady effort.

3. 3
   narrow in scopeadjective

   Concerned with a narrowly defined part of a broader subject or phenomenon.

   The report is narrowly focused on coastal erosion rather than climate change as a whole.

   Her dissertation is tightly focused on one decade of postwar literature.

   UsageOften with an adverb before it and on after: narrowly focused on, tightly focused on one topic.

   Similartargeted, specialized, narrow, specific

   Oppositebroad, general, wide-ranging

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