What does distract mean?
Definitions for distract
dɪˈstræktdis·tract
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word distract.
Princeton's WordNet
distract, deflectverb
draw someone's attention away from something
"The thief distracted the bystanders"; "He deflected his competitors"
perturb, unhinge, disquiet, trouble, cark, distract, disorderverb
disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed
"She was rather perturbed by the news that her father was seriously ill"
Wiktionary
distractverb
To divert the attention of.
The crowd was distracted by a helicopter hovering over the stadium when the only goal of the game was scored.
Etymology: From distrahere, from dis- + trahere.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
To DISTRACTverb
part. pass. destracted; anciently destraught.
Etymology: distractus, Latin.
By sea, by sea.
—— Most worthy sir, you therein throw away
The absolute soldiership you have by land;
Distract your army, which doth most consist
Of war-mark’d footmen. William Shakespeare, Anthony and Cleopatra.If he cannot wholly avoid the eye of the observer, he hopes to distract it by a multiplicity of the object. Robert South, Sermons.
While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. Ps. lxxxviii. 15.
Come, cousin, can’st thou quake, and change thy colour,
Murther thy breath in middle of a word,
And then again begin, and stop again,
As if thou wert distraught and mad with terror? William Shakespeare, R. III.It would burst forth; but I recover breath,
And sense distract, to know well what I utter. John Milton, Agonist.He possesses a quiet and cheerful mind, not afflicted with violent passions, or distracted with immoderate cares. John Ray.
If our sense of hearing were a thousand times quicker than it is, how would a perpetual noise distract us? We should, in the quietest retirement, be less able to sleep or meditate than in the middle of a sea-fight. John Locke.
Wherefore throng you hither?
———— To fetch my poor distracted husband hence:
Let us come in, that we may bind him fast,
And bear him home for his recovery. William Shakespeare, Com. of Err.Better I were distract,
So should my thoughts be sever’d from my griefs,
And woes, by wrong imagination, lose
The knowledge of themselves. William Shakespeare, King Lear.She was unable, in strength of mind, to bear the grief of his decease, and fell distracted of her wits. Francis Bacon, Hen. VII.
You shall find a distracted man fancy himself a king, and with a right inference require suitable attendance, respect, and obedience. John Locke.
Wikipedia
distract
Distraction is the process of diverting the attention of an individual or group from a desired area of focus and thereby blocking or diminishing the reception of desired information. Distraction is caused by: the lack of ability to pay attention; lack of interest in the object of attention; or the great intensity, novelty or attractiveness of something other than the object of attention. Distractions come from both external sources, and internal sources. External distractions include factors such as visual triggers, social interactions, music, text messages, and phone calls. There are also internal distractions such as hunger, fatigue, illness, worrying, and daydreaming. Both external and internal distractions contribute to the interference of focus.
ChatGPT
distract
Distract refers to drawing someone's attention away from the task at hand or diverting their focus from a particular activity or subject, usually causing them to lose concentration. It could also imply causing someone to feel anxious or vaguely troubled about something.
Webster Dictionary
Distractadjective
separated; drawn asunder
Distractadjective
insane; mad
Distractverb
to draw apart or away; to divide; to disjoin
Distractverb
to draw (the sight, mind, or attention) in different directions; to perplex; to confuse; as, to distract the eye; to distract the attention
Distractverb
to agitate by conflicting passions, or by a variety of motives or of cares; to confound; to harass
Distractverb
to unsettle the reason of; to render insane; to craze; to madden; -- most frequently used in the participle, distracted
Etymology: [L. distractus, p. p. of distrahere to draw asunder; dis- + trahere to draw. See Trace, and cf. Distraught.]
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Distract
dis-trakt′, v.t. to draw in different directions—applied to the mind or attention: to confuse: to harass: to render crazy: to divert.—adj. Distract′ed.—adv. Distract′edly.—n. Distract′edness.—adjs. Distract′ible; Distract′ile (bot.), carried widely apart.—n. Distrac′tion, state of being distracted: perplexity: agitation: madness: a diversion.—adj. Distract′ive, causing perplexity.
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of distract in Chaldean Numerology is: 4
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of distract in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4
Examples of distract in a Sentence
The demands that Russia put on the table were beyond excessive, they were, of course, nonstarters, and what we've seen repeatedly is that Russia goes through the pretense of diplomacy to distract and continue on its aggressive path.
Making such a threshold the legal standard will only distract law enforcement from the most dangerous high-BAC offenders on the road.
When we cannot hide behind the projections of ourselves on social media, when we cannot distract ourselves with TV and phones and internet, when we cannot indulge ourselves in food and drink, thenwe come face to face with ourselves — our ugliness and our brokenness.
I'm not going to let personal attacks from the president distract me from what matters : beating this virus and keeping Washingtonians healthy.
It was so cold, the only way we could distract our children from the cold and make them stop crying was by telling them that they will get all the Barbie dolls they want once we come to Germany.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for distract
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- صرف الانتباهArabic
- разсейвам, отвличамBulgarian
- distreureCatalan, Valencian
- ablenkenGerman
- distraerSpanish
- distraireFrench
- distraerGalician
- הסיח את הדעתHebrew
- विचलितHindi
- շեղելArmenian
- amuzar, distraktarIdo
- distrarreItalian
- להסיח את הדעהHebrew
- 気をそらすJapanese
- wawao, whakawareaMāori
- distrairPortuguese
- отвлекать, отвлечьRussian
- distraheraSwedish
- กวนใจThai
- dikkati dağıtmakTurkish
- phân tâmVietnamese
- 转移Chinese
Get even more translations for distract »
Translation
Find a translation for the distract definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"distract." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/distract>.
Discuss these distract definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In