focus
fo·cus/ˈfoʊ̯.kəs/noun, verb
focus is spelled F-O-C-U-S, 2 syllables: fo·cus. The wrong spelling people search most is foucs: about 820 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 61 of all searches for the word. Focus is a noun meaning “A point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge”. The plural of focus is foci or focuses.
How many letters and syllables are in focus?
| Letters | 5: F-O-C-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: fo·cus |
| In writing | 100 times per million words; the 1,076th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, foucs, about 820 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell focus?
Focus is spelled F-O-C-U-S. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 50 of the searches for focus in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is focus?
Focus appears 100 times per million words in written English, the 1,076th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce focus?
- UK /ˈfəʊ̯.kəs/
- US /ˈfoʊ̯.kəs/
- Australia /ˈfəʉ.kəs/
Focus has 2 syllables, split fo·cus in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-focus.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-focus.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with focus
Also written: focussed, focussing.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with focus?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as focus from its last stressed vowel (/oʊkəs/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of focus
- foci plural
- focuses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- focusses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- focusing participle, present
- focussing participle, present
- focused participle, past
- focussed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does focus mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge.
The heat of sunlight at the focus of a magnifying glass can easily set dry leaves on fire.
- 2
A point of a conic at which rays reflected from a curve or surface converge.
- 3
The fact of the convergence of light on the photographic medium.
Unfortunately, the license plate is out of focus in this image.
- 4
The quality of the convergence of light on the photographic medium.
During this scene, the boy’s face shifts subtly from soft focus into sharp focus.
- 5
Concentration of attention.
I believe I can bring the high degree of focus required for this important job.
- 6
Something to which activity, attention or interest is primarily directed.
My studies are my main focus right now.
- 7
The exact point of where an earthquake occurs, in three dimensions (underneath the epicentre).
The earthquake's focus was at exactly 37 degrees north, 18 degrees south, seventy five meters below the ground.
- 8
The status of being the currently active element in a user interface, often indicated by a visual highlight.
Text entered at the keyboard or pasted from a clipboard is sent to the component which currently has the focus.
verb
- 1
To cause (rays of light, etc) to converge at a single point.
- 2
To adjust (a lens, an optical instrument) in order to position an image with respect to the focal plane.
You'll need to focus the microscope carefully in order to capture the full detail of this surface.
- 3
To adjust itself or be adjusted such that light from a scene converges appropriately to create a clear image.
I can't get the lens to focus.
- 4
To direct attention, effort, or energy to a particular audience or task.
The president focused her remarks on the newcomers.
- 5
To concentrate one’s attention.
If you're going to beat your competitors, you need to focus.
- 6
To concentrate one's attention on something; to have as one's central point of interest, concern, etc.
I have to focus on my work.
- 7
To transfer the input focus to (a visual element), so that it receives subsequent input.
The text box won't receive the user's keystrokes unless you explicitly focus it.
- 8
To aggregate figures of accounts.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Focus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | foyer , attention , focaliser , mettre au point , concentrer , se concentrer |
| German | Brennpunkt, Fokus , Konzentration , fokussieren , sich konzentrieren |
| Portuguese | foco , focalizar , focar-se , enfoque , focar |
| Spanish | foco, punto focal , enfocar , afocar , concentrarse , enfoque |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does focus come from?
Borrowed from Latin focus (“hearth, fireplace”); see there for more. Related to fuel. Kepler introduced the term into mathematics and the sciences in describing elliptical orbits of planets (quote from Nicholas Mee): "One of the interesting properties of an ellipse is that if there were a light bulb at one focus, then all the light that it emits would reflect off the ellipse and converge at the other focus. This is why Kepler originally used the name focus for these points."
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).