- (often passive) to draw the attention of (a person) away from something
- to divide or confuse the attention of (a person)
- to amuse or entertain
- to trouble greatly
- to make mad
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
dis•tract /dɪˈstrækt/USA pronunciation
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to draw away or divert;
to keep (one's mind) from concentrating: [~ + object]One of the group distracted me by asking for help.[~ + object + from + object]The music distracted us from our work. - to provide a pleasant diversion for;
amuse;
entertain:[~ + object]I was distracted for a while and forgot my troubles.
dis•tract
(di strakt′),USA pronunciation v.t.
adj.
dis•tract′er, n.
dis•tract′i•ble, adj.
dis•tract′ing•ly, adv.
- to draw away or divert, as the mind or attention:The music distracted him from his work.
- to disturb or trouble greatly in mind;
beset:Grief distracted him. - to provide a pleasant diversion for;
amuse;
entertain:I'm bored with bridge, but golf still distracts me. - to separate or divide by dissension or strife.
adj.
- [Obs.]distracted.
- Latin distractus (past participle of distrahere to draw apart), equivalent. to dis- dis-1 + trac- (variant stem of trahere to draw) + -tus past participle suffix
- Middle English 1350–1400
dis•tract′i•ble, adj.
dis•tract′ing•ly, adv.
- 2. bewilder, agitate, pain, torment, distress.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
distract /dɪˈstrækt/ vb (transitive)
'distract' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
avocation
- detract
- distrait
- distraught
- divert
- feint
- sidetrack
- amuse
- call
- dipsy-doodle
- distracted
- distractibility
- distraction
- distractive
- diversionary
- nondistracted
- nondistracting
- turn
- undistracted
- undistracting