distractions

plural of distraction
1
2
as in entertainments
the act or activity of providing pleasure or amusement especially for the public the founder of a recovery program who doesn't view gambling as a harmless distraction for people of modest means

Synonyms & Similar Words

3

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of distractions No distractions will take you away from the win on its watch! — George Yang, PC Magazine, 29 Oct. 2026 Even with the appeals and distractions of the intertidal world and a few early morning tongues of uni, our bags are still overflowing. — Joseph Ogilvy, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2026 Maintain eye contact with the lens or host, present professionally and make sure your surroundings are appropriate and free from distractions. — Victoria Usher, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026 Toward the end of the Knicks’ magical title run, however, a number of potential distractions arose—thanks to Dolan himself. — Noah Shachtman, Vanity Fair, 20 Oct. 2026 Daytime distractions push work to the weekend Some Sunday workers say working weekends or after hours is the only way to get focused work done. — Jennifer Liu, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2026 With the enormous distractions and investments in college sports now removed, our institutions of higher learning can focus on their only mission, and that is providing the best, most affordable education on earth for our young people. — Bruce Svare, Sportico.com, 17 Oct. 2026 That growth has been accompanied by a series of headline-grabbing distractions for the league under her leadership, especially in the past year. — ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026 And indeed, some of Niccol’s moves at Starbucks have involved getting rid of some complexity and distractions, notably selling majority control of Starbucks’ China business last year. — Phil Wahba, Fortune, 9 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for distractions
Noun
  • Before the Lost Weekend, John and Yoko had their New York Year — turning their personal confusions into beautifully vivid moments of rage and pain.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Football—besides being one of our more ubiquitous and unrestrained national entertainments—has also become one of the rare arenas in American life where highly specialized language can flourish without censure.
    — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Among the New Wave of American filmmakers in the mid-’70s, Spielberg and his friend George Lucas stood out as directors with ambitions to make old-fashioned popular entertainments.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 June 2026
Noun
  • Over a dozen flights were impacted on Thursday, including four flight diversions in the Czech Republic and two in Italy.
    — Sophie Tanno, CNN Money, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Several similar threats targeted planes earlier this week, prompting searches and diversions.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Nov. 2026
Noun
  • And fogs are closer to us than clouds.
    — Doyle Rice, USA Today, 31 May 2026
  • Over-the-counter pesticides and fogs will not do the job.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Many travelers speed right by on their way to the flashy amusements of Kemah or Galveston’s sandy beaches.
    — Gabi De la Rosa, Southern Living, 29 July 2026
  • Down a dark stairway is the murky world of Bronc’s Tack Room bar, a cavern with pool tables and the usual Stockyards amusements.
    — Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 July 2026
Noun
  • For a chef in Chicago, translating this world of Basque dining, with all its delights and idiosyncrasies, proves tricky.
    — John Kessler, Chicago Tribune, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Gleick has a rich supply of oddities and delights from the telephone’s early history.
    — Cal Revely-Calder, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026
Noun
  • Both amyloid beta and tau are normally present in healthy brains; the plaques and tangles are abnormal aggregations of these molecules.
    — Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026
  • The shampoo didn’t strip the tester’s already-dry hair, and a two-minute conditioner left her tangles smooth enough to finger-comb.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Marino’s design featured long, red acrylic nails, recreations of Klum’s engagement and wedding rings, a tattoo of her husband Tom Kaulitz’s name and exposed fake tendons and ligaments with Klum’s face visible at the center.
    — Arushi Jacob, Footwear News, 2 Nov. 2026
  • But even those recreations are cut in with actual archival footage, so they are connected.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Distractions.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/distractions. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

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