distract
Americanverb (used with object)
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to draw away or divert, as the mind or attention.
The music distracted him from his work.
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to disturb or trouble greatly in mind; beset.
Grief distracted him.
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to provide a pleasant diversion for; amuse; entertain.
I'm bored with bridge, but golf still distracts me.
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to separate or divide by dissension or strife.
adjective
verb
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(often passive) to draw the attention of (a person) away from something
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to divide or confuse the attention of (a person)
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to amuse or entertain
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to trouble greatly
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to make mad
Other Word Forms
- distracter noun
- distractibility noun
- distractible adjective
- distracting adjective
- distractingly adverb
- distractive adjective
- distractively adverb
- nondistracting adjective
- nondistractingly adverb
- undistracting adjective
- undistractingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of distract
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin distractus “drawn apart,” past participle of distrahere “to draw apart,” from dis- dis- 1 + trahere “to draw”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Even Marcus Smith's personalised boots – featuring Quins' diamonds in the colours of England and the Philippines, Baybayin calligraphy and Jasmine blossom – couldn't distract from his team's troubles.
From BBC
Draper admitted it was a difficult situation for the umpire, but thought Medvedev had "played the rules quite well" and did not believe his gesture had been enough to distract him.
From BBC
“We cannot miss this moment,” Fidji Simo, the company’s CEO of applications, told staff, “because we are distracted by side quests.”
In a recent editorial, he warned of today’s seemingly conscious AIs, which he says distract from the technology’s usefulness as highly accelerated information processors.
Time and again, conflicts elsewhere have distracted them.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
