focussed
English
Alternative forms
- focused
Adjective
focussed (comparative more focussed, superlative most focussed)
- (Britain) Alternative spelling of focused
- 1961 February, “Talking of Trains: Collision at Newcastle”, in Trains Illustrated, page 76:
- When first sighted on the curve, outside the focussed beam, the signal aspects were faint and difficult to identify in a confused background.
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Antonyms
- unfocussed
Verb
focussed
- (Britain) simple past tense and past participle of focus
- 1964 November, “LMR under fire in the NW”, in Modern Railways, page 355:
- Criticism focussed particularly on the services to and from Blackpool.
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Usage notes
- The spelling focused is much more common in the US but also more common in the UK and Australia.
- The Oxford English Dictionary describes the spelling focussed as irregular.
- The spelling focussed is a widely seen UK spelling but focused, (focuses, focusing) is more common in prestige publications.
- The spelling focussed is nowadays more common in Canada and New Zealand than in the UK.