Meaning & use
distraction
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
Something that pulls your attention away from what you are trying to do.
Grammar: Countable for a particular thing (a distraction) or uncountable for the general problem (too much distraction).
Patterns
- a distraction from something
- free from distraction
My phone is the biggest distraction when I study.
Noise from the road was a constant distraction.
She turned off the television to avoid distraction.
nouncountable
An enjoyable activity that takes your mind off your worries.
Grammar: Usually positive: a welcome distraction.
Patterns
- a welcome distraction
- a distraction from something
Gardening was a welcome distraction during the hard months.
The film offered a pleasant distraction from his troubles.
Games are a harmless distraction after a long day.
nounidiomold-fashioned
A state of extreme worry or agitation, found only in the phrase driven to distraction.
Grammar: Used in the fixed phrase to distraction: the noise drove me to distraction.
Patterns
- drive someone to distraction
- love someone to distraction
The constant barking drove the neighbors to distraction.
He was worried to distraction about the exam.
She loved him to distraction.
Word forms
| plural | distractions |
|---|
Common combinations
- a constant distraction
- Email is a constant distraction at work.
- a welcome distraction
- The visit was a welcome distraction.
- avoid distractions
- Avoid distractions while you drive.
- drive someone to distraction
- The slow service drove us to distraction.
- a minor distraction
- A minor distraction is enough to lose focus.
Synonyms and how they differ
- interruption
- Interruption means a break in an activity, while distraction means anything that draws your attention away, even silently.
- diversion
- Diversion often means a pleasant way to pass the time, the same as the second sense of distraction, and also covers a changed route.
- disturbance
- Disturbance suggests noise or disorder that upsets calm, a stronger and louder idea than distraction.
- amusement
- Amusement stresses fun, whereas distraction stresses taking your attention from something else.
Opposites
Word family
- distract verb
- to draw attention away from something
- distracted adjective
- unable to concentrate
- distracting adjective
- pulling attention away
- distractedly adverb
- in a way that shows the mind is elsewhere
Commonly confused: distraction or destruction?
distraction vs destruction
Destruction means ruin or damage, and it is easy to mix up with distraction because the words look similar.
Practice
The children's noise was such a ___ that I could not finish my report.
Choose one answer.
A distraction takes attention away from work. Destruction means damage, extraction means taking out, and attraction means appeal, none of which fits.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “distraction”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.