distract
/dɪˈstɹækt/verb
distract is spelled D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, distract means “To divert the attention of” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in distract?
| Letters | 8: D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.1 times per million words; the 11,015th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is distract?
Distract appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce distract?
- /dɪˈstɹækt/
Distract has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-distract.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of distract
- distracts present, singular, he/she/it
- distracting participle, present
- distracted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does distract mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
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.
- 2
To divert (attention).
- 3
To make crazy or insane; to drive to distraction.
adjective
- 1
obsoleteDrawn asunder; separated.
- 2
obsoleteInsane, mad.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Distract in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense To divert the attention of:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does distract come from?
Borrowed from Latin distractus, from distrahō (“to pull apart”), from dis- + trahō (“to pull”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).