まぎらす, まぎらせる

まぎらす, まぎらせる, まぎらわす【紛らす, 紛らせる, 紛らわす】

1 〔気を晴らす〕 divert 《one's mind》; distract 《one's attention》; 《文》 beguile 《the time》; 〔ごまかす〕 conceal.

●退屈を紛らす relieve tedium; do sth to avoid boredom

・笑顔で悲しい気持ちを紛らす conceal one's sadness with a smiling face.

●彼女は寂しさを紛らすためにピアノをひいていた. She was playing the piano to conceal [divert her mind from] her loneliness.

2 〔混同させる〕 make sth confused [blurred, hazy, unclear].

●冗談に紛らす turn sth into a joke

・冗談に紛らしてしまおうとした. I tried to muddy the waters by making a joke of it.

・話を紛らす talk evasively; change the subject [topic] of conversation (so as to muddle things up).

・話をほかのことに紛らしてしまった. He shifted the conversation into another channel.