distracted

1. 1
   adjective

   Having one's attention pulled away from the matter at hand; preoccupied with other thoughts.

   The distracted driver missed the exit entirely.

   Worried about the exam results, she remained distracted all through dinner.

   Similarpreoccupied, inattentive, unfocused, absent-minded

   Oppositeattentive, focused, alert

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of distract.

   The flashing lights distracted drivers along the highway.

   His phone distracted him repeatedly during the meeting.

   Note

   The form of a transitive verb, so it needs an object or a passive subject: the lights distracted drivers, or the driver was distracted by his phone. That passive shape shades easily into the adjective of wandering attention. One test tells them apart: the adjective takes more and most (more distracted than ever), while the participle does not.

3. 3
   adjective

   In a state of extreme emotional distress; frantic with worry or grief and unable to keep one's composure.

   Distracted by fear, he paced the hospital corridor for hours.

   The widow appeared utterly distracted in the days following the funeral.

   Similardistraught, frantic, overwrought, agitated

   Oppositecalm, composed, collected

   Note

   Here the mind is not wandering but torn apart by feeling. J. Bricknell's The Natural History of North Carolina (1737) pictures someone running about the house crying, and W. S. Gilbert's The Mikado (1885) places "Yum-Yum distracted" among girls in tears. The verb behind it once meant to drive mad, which explains the force. Context separates it from the inattentive meaning: grief, fear or tears point here.

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