distract vs districts, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“distract” is a verb and “districts” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,023
“distract” frequency rank: #4,228
“districts” frequency rank: 15251
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	distract	districts
Definition	To divert the attention of.	plural of district

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set distract and districts apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

distract

9 ch

districts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: distract is /dɪˈstɹækt/ while districts is /ˈdɪstɹɪk(t)s/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15251, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

distract is recorded at frequency rank #11,023, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈstɹækt/. districts is at rank #4,228, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɪstɹɪk(t)s/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 15251, this pair ranks #465,169 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of distract vs districts

Shared letters: cdirst. Private to "distract": a. Private to "districts": -.

"distract" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC · "districts" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

distract ← ddistract · disrtact · disstract · distarct · distracct · distractt · distratc · distrcat
districts ← ddistricts · disrticts · disstricts · distircts · distrcits · districcts · districst · districtss

Frequency comparison

distract#11,023

districts#4,228

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "distract" and "districts" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "distract" is a verb and "districts" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "distract" or "districts"?

"districts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,228 in our English list, against #11,023 for "distract". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering distract vs districts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “distract”; for a noun, it's “districts”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “distract” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable