distract

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin distractus, from distrahō (“to pull apart”), from dis- + trahō (“to pull”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪsˈtɹækt/
• Rhymes: -ækt

Verb

distract (third-person singular simple present distracts, present participle distracting, simple past and past participle distracted)

1. (transitive) To divert the attention of.
   • 2011 December 10, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 1-0 Everton”, in BBC Sport:

     While Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had warned his players against letting the pre-match festivities distract them from the task at hand, they clearly struggled for fluency early on.

   • 2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:

     Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.

   The crowd was distracted by a helicopter hovering over the stadium when the only goal of the game was scored.

2. (transitive) To make crazy or insane; to drive to distraction.

Related terms

• distracted
• distractible
• distracting
• distraction

Translations

To divert the attention of

• Armenian: շեղել (hy) (šeġel), ուշադրությունը շեղել (ušadrutʻyunə šeġel)
• Asturian: distrayer
• Belarusian: адцягваць impf (adcjahvacʹ), адцягнуць pf (adcjahnucʹ)
• Bulgarian: отвличам (bg) (otvličam), разсейвам (bg) (razsejvam)
• Catalan: distreure (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 分心 (zh) (fēnxīn), 分散 (zh) (fēnsàn)

• Danish: aflede, distrahere
• Finnish: viedä (+ genitive) huomio
• French: distraire (fr)
• Galician: distraer
• German: ablenken (de)
• Hebrew: הסיח את הדעת (hisíakh et hadá'at)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Ido: distraktar (io), amuzar (io)
• Italian: distrarre (it)
• Japanese: 気をそらす (ki-o sorasu)
• Latin: distringō
• Maori: wawao, whakawarea
• Norwegian: distrahere
• Occitan: distraire
• Portuguese: distrair (pt)
• Russian: отвлека́ть (ru) impf (otvlekátʹ), отвле́чь (ru) pf (otvléčʹ)
• Spanish: distraer (es), despistar (es)
• Swedish: distrahera (sv)
• Turkish: dikkati dağıtmak
• Ukrainian: відволікати impf (vidvolikaty), відволікти pf (vidvolikty)

Adjective

distract (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Separated; drawn asunder.
2. (obsolete) Insane; mad.
   • (Can we date this quote by Michael Drayton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     (Alone she being left the spoil of love and death,

     In labour of her grief outrageously distract,

     The utmost of her spleen on her false lord to act)

See also

• distraught

Anagrams

• adstrict