Dictionary

distraction en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /dɪsˈtɹæk.ʃən/
• (General-American) audio

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Something that distracts.
   • “… This is a surprise attack, and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. I am sure, Lord Stranleigh, that he has been descanting on the distraction of the woods and the camp, or perhaps the metropolitan dissipation of Philadelphia, …” 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
   • At last the Duke of Anjou arrived, dressed, as his brother said, to distraction. 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 297:
   • Poking one's eye is a good distraction from a hurting toe.
2. (countable, uncountable) The process of being distracted.
   • We have to reduce distraction in class if we want students to achieve good results.
   • The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about "creating compelling content", or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",[…]and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27:
   • We determined that the probable cause of the Tishomingo, Oklahoma, collision was the teen driver’s acceleration through the intersection after briefly slowing without stopping, due to distraction from having five teen passengers in the car, limited driving experience, and likely impairment from cannabis. 2024, NTSB, Intersection Crash Between Passenger Car and Combination Vehicle, Tishomingo, Oklahoma, March 22, 2022:
3. (countable, uncountable) Perturbation; disorder; disturbance; confusion.
   • It's true that the Copernican Systeme introduceth distraction in the universe of Aristotle. 1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2)
4. (countable, uncountable) Mental disarray; a deranged state of mind; insanity.
   • The incessant nightmares drove him to distraction.
   • […] if he speak the words of an oath in a strange language, thinking they signify something else, or if he spake in his sleep, or deliration, or distraction, it is no oath, and so not obligatory. 1673, Richard Baxter, Christian Directory:
5. (archaic, countable, uncountable) Traction so exerted as to separate surfaces normally opposed.

Forms

Deriveds

distractionist · distraction osteogenesis · distraction carnifex · to distraction · osteodistraction · distractionary · distraction display · distractionism · drive to distraction · distractionless

Relateds

distracter · distractee

Translations (53)

ca distracció (something that distracts) · la avocatio (the process of being distracted) · de Störung (the process of being distracted) · bg отвличане (the process of being distracted) · hu szétszórtság (the process of being distracted) · th การเบี่ยงเบนความสนใจ (the process of being distracted) · da distraktion (something that distracts) · fr distraction (something that distracts) · id gangguan (the process of being distracted) · pt distracção (the process of being distracted) · ast distraición (something that distracts) · de Ablenkung (the process of being distracted) · ca distracció (the process of being distracted) · gl distracción (the process of being distracted) · hu őrület (mental disorder) · fr folie (mental disorder) · fi häiriö (the process of being distracted) · gl distracción (something that distracts) · oc distraccion (something that distracts) · es distracción (something that distracts) · pt distração (something that distracts) · de Ablenkung (something that distracts) · de Ablenkungsmanöver (something that distracts) · hu szórakozottság (the process of being distracted) · mi pīroiroi (something that distracts) · fi häiriö (something that distracts) · mt aljenazzjoni (the process of being distracted) · sk rozptýlenie (something that distracts) · hu elterelés (something that distracts) · it distrazione (something that distracts) · ga cur isteach (something that distracts) · pt distração (the process of being distracted) · es distracción (the process of being distracted) · bg развлечение (something that distracts) · fi häiriötekijä (something that distracts) · ga seachmhall (the process of being distracted) · de Wahnsinn (mental disorder) · hu figyelmetlenség (the process of being distracted) · de Zerstreuung (mental disorder) · de Zerstreuung (the process of being distracted) · ja 逆上 (something that distracts) · ga seachrán (mental disorder) · ru отвлече́ние (the process of being distracted) · sv distraktion (something that distracts) · bg разсейване (the process of being distracted) · pt distracção (something that distracts) · es locura (mental disorder) · hu elterelődik (the process of being distracted) · th สิ่งเบี่ยงเบนความสนใจ (something that distracts) · ast distraición (the process of being distracted) · nl afleiding (something that distracts) · da afledning (something that distracts) · id pengalih (something that distracts)