distrait
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- overdistrait adjective
Etymology
Origin of distrait
1740–50; < French < Latin distractus; see distract
Explanation
Distrait means "preoccupied with worry." If you can't concentrate on the hot gossip your friend is sharing with you because you can't stop thinking about what your mom is going to say about the window you accidentally broke, you're distrait. The adjective distrait comes from the Latin word distrahere, meaning “pull apart,” which describes what happens to your thoughts when you are distrait. It looks and sounds like distract, another word that has to do with the ability to pay attention. But while anything can make you feel distracted — a noise outside your window, a phone call that comes when you are supposed to be studying — distrait always has to do with worry and anxiety.
Vocabulary lists containing distrait
Challenge, List 11
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Babbitt
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List 6
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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.
She plays a fascinating and distrait Princess of a mythical European country who is by way of being temporarily bored with her Royal Family.
From Time Magazine Archive
Yusupov, still deathly sick, looked at me with a distrait air, but obeyed.
From Time Magazine Archive
The symbolically-minded said it was practically foreordained that oft-rescued Claret should rescue the distrait Courtney.
From Time Magazine Archive
Walter, distrait, ignoring the living Florence and her unborn child, arranges for a quick trip to Switzerland.
From Time Magazine Archive
Looking more than a little distrait, she paused just long enough to push downward on Bloomberg’s roving hindquarters.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
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.
