drive to distraction
/ˌdɹaɪv tə dɪsˈtɹækʃ(ə)n/
"drive-to-distraction" is a 18-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“drive to distraction” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 20
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To annoy (someone) so much that they cannot concentrate.
Corpus desk
Index EN-drive-to-distraction · drive to distraction · English
drive to distraction · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 20 letters
- VOW-7 7 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | drive to distraction |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌdɹaɪv tə dɪsˈtɹækʃ(ə)n/ |
| Letters | 20 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “drive to distraction” in English
Rare enough to double-check
drive to distraction is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌdɹaɪv tə dɪsˈtɹækʃ(ə)n/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To annoy (someone) so much that they cannot concentrate.".
No misspelling variants are generated for drive to distraction in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From drive (“to cause to become”) + to + distraction (“deranged state of mind; insanity”). The correct English form is drive to distraction, spelled D-R-I-V-E- -T-O- -D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1To annoy (someone) so much that they cannot concentrate.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how drive to distraction appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"[…]pray do this for us—pray do not drive to distraction a man who has loved you so well."
Etymology
From drive (“to cause to become”) + to + distraction (“deranged state of mind; insanity”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.