Distraction

//dɪsˈtɹæk.ʃən// noun

noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Something that distracts. countable, uncountable

    "Poking one's eye is a good distraction from a hurting toe."

  2. 2
    the act of distracting; drawing someone's attention away from something wordnet
  3. 3
    The process of being distracted. countable, uncountable

    "We have to reduce distraction in class if we want students to achieve good results."

  4. 4
    an entertainment that provokes pleased interest and distracts you from worries and vexations wordnet
  5. 5
    Perturbation; disorder; disturbance; confusion. countable, uncountable

    "It's true that the Copernican Systeme introduceth distraction in the universe of Aristotle."

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    mental turmoil wordnet
  2. 7
    Mental disarray; a deranged state of mind; insanity. countable, uncountable

    "The incessant nightmares drove him to distraction."

  3. 8
    an obstacle to attention wordnet
  4. 9
    Traction so exerted as to separate surfaces normally opposed. archaic, countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
aberrationabnormalityabsentmindednessagitationalienationamusement

Example

More examples

"My only distraction is the game Go."

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French distraction, from Latin distractio. Equivalent to distract + -ion.

Related phrases

distraction osteogenesisdrive to distractionto distractionboring stuffdriven tolooking awayunable concentrate

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.