Definition of distract
- was distracted by a sudden noise
- refused to be distracted from her purpose
You sneak into his room while I distract him.
He was distracted from his studies.
The students are easily distracted, especially when they're tired.
I was distracted by a loud noise.
The local story distracted attention from news of the war overseas.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'distract.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use: 14th century
in the meaning defined at sense 1b
See Words from the same yearagitate, ail, alarm (also alarum), bother, concern, derail, discomfort, discompose, dismay, disquiet, distemper, distress, disturb, exercise, flurry, frazzle, freak (out), fuss, perturb, undo, unhinge, unsettle, upset, weird out, worry;
calm, compose, quiet, settle, soothe, tranquilize (also tranquillize);
aggravate, anger, annoy, bug, chafe, chivy (or chivvy), exasperate, fret, gall, get, grate, harass, harry, irk, irritate, nettle, peeve, pester, pique, put off, put out, rile, vex;
abash, confound, confuse, discomfit, disconcert, discountenance, embarrass, faze, fluster, jar, mortify, nonplus, rattle, shake up;
daunt, demoralize, discourage, dishearten, dispirit, unnerve;
14th century
: to cause (someone) to stop thinking about or paying attention to someone or something and to think about or pay attention to someone or something else instead
: to take (attention) away from someone or something
See words that rhyme with distract Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for distract Spanish Central: Translation of distract Nglish: Translation of distract for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of distract for Arabic speakers
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