distract
/dɪˈstɹækt/
"distract" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“distract” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,023. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #11,023
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To divert the attention of.
Corpus desk
Index EN-distract · distract · English
distract · rank #11,023 · 13 variants · 9 confusables
- FREQ-MID #11,023
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 13 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH disruption
Nearest frequency peer: disruption (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “distract”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- directive
directive
88,981 corpus weight
- disadvantage
disadvantage
88,980 corpus weight
- disruption
disruption
88,979 corpus weight
- distract
distract
88,978 corpus weight
- doctor's
doctor's
88,977 corpus weight
- downward
downward
88,976 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “distract” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | distract |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dɪˈstɹækt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #11,023 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “distract” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 13 spelling variants around distract (IPA /dɪˈstɹækt/), averb. Corpus frequency is #11,023 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for distract, with forms such as "ddistract", "disrtact", and "disstract". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "district", "distrust", "districts", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin distractus, from distrahō (“to pull apart”), from dis- + trahō (“to pull”). The correct English form is distract, spelled D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T.
Definition
- 1To divert the attention of.
- 2To divert (attention).
- 3To make crazy or insane; to drive to distraction.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how distract appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The crowd was distracted by a helicopter hovering over the stadium when the only goal of the game was scored.
While Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had warned his players against letting the pre-match festivities distract them from the task at hand, they clearly struggled for fluency early on.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin distractus, from distrahō (“to pull apart”), from dis- + trahō (“to pull”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddistract
- disrtact
- disstract
- distarct
- distracct
- distractt
- distratc
- distrcat
- distrract
- disttract
- ditsract
- dsitract
- idstract
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of distract - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "distract"?
What does "distract" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "distract", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "distract". Here's where to go from here.
- "distract" maps to 9 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "district". View pair
- 13 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #11,023 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "D" letter cohort. D–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.