distracting 1 of 2

adjective

as in confounding

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distracting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of distract
1
as in diverting
to draw the attention or mind to something else we were distracted from our discussion by the noise outside

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bothering
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy distracted by the looming tax deadline

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of distracting
Adjective
Choose a clean, non-distracting background that doesn’t compete with your mug for attention. — William Arruda, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
Verb
Women were made to feel that their bodies were somehow offensive, distracting, or inconvenient. — Robin Givhan, Vanity Fair, 19 Aug. 2026 Now, a cross-sectional study based on a registry of fatal US motor vehicle crashes has found that the love of her albums may have even contributed a statistically significant bump in deadly traffic accidents, presumably by distracting drivers. — Mike McRae 18, New Atlas, 18 Aug. 2026 Practicing meditation, visualization, or deep breathing may help in distracting from the discomfort of a full bladder for a short time. — Amber J. Tresca, Verywell Health, 14 Aug. 2026 At least 10 million people use the Opal app, whose premium tier costs $100 annually, to lock themselves out of distracting apps, while others pay $59 for the Brick to do the same. — Nancy Walecki, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026 One of the beauties of this novel is how these experiences are used as framework, never distracting from the portrait of the Boltons that emerges. — Deborah Johnson, Christian Science Monitor, 13 Aug. 2026 The matte black finish looks clean on a desk, and the 10-zone RGB lighting adds just enough personality without becoming distracting. — Sascha Brodsky, PC Magazine, 11 Aug. 2026 Going back and forth from one home to the other home each week can be upsetting or distracting, causing distress. — Patricia Fersch, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026 The Strip provided distracting saturations of red-white-and-blue. — Paige Williams, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for distracting
  1. confounding
  2. diverting
  3. bothering
  4. perplexing
  5. detracting
  6. disturbing
  7. puzzling
  8. alarming
Adjective
  • Grief is one of the most confounding aspects of the human experience.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 Apr. 2026
  • In 2021, one year into D’Amaro’s tenure and following COVID shutdowns, Disney did away with FastPass and introduced a confounding and very costly series of pay-to-skip passes, which require timing advanced booking of limited slots in these formerly free-to-enter shorter lines.
    — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 5 Feb. 2026
Definition of confounding
Verb
  • This year alone, $5 billion in taxpayer funds will be siphoned away from public schools to prop up Florida’s unaccountable voucher program, diverting dollars from the more than 80% of children who attend public schools.
    — Andrew Spar, Sun Sentinel, 24 Aug. 2026
  • All this scattershot world-building and world-visiting allows for some colorfully diverting vignettes, in which production designer Alexandra Walker and costume designer Ann Maskrey get to show off their giddy, gaudy wares.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of diverting
Verb
  • Some interns hesitate to contact their former colleagues for fear of bothering them, but most people are eager to help out young talent.
    — Sophie Caldwell, CNBC, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Contreras rarely takes days off but asked for a day off Sunday with his leg bothering him.
    — Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of bothering
Adjective
  • Such is the perplexing, some might say exhausting, state of eligibility in college sports these days.
    — Justin Williams, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Orbital imagery has shown that unlike its heavily cratered sibling moon, Phobos, which means fear in ancient Greek, Deimos is much smoother — and covered in a perplexing layer of dust and rubble called regolith.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of perplexing
Verb
  • An expansion into New Mexico would add oil revenue from the Permian Basin to Texas, adding to its economy and detracting, in turn, from New Mexico's.
    — Kate Plummer, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Some asserted that the commitment and costs of traveling and attending meetings paired with the limited compensation was detracting members of the public from running for office.
    — Luis Melecio-Zambrano, Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2025
Definition of detracting
Verb
  • Tian took the photo during his biodiversity research on the seaway, using environmental DNA sampling and drone surveys to monitor the ecosystem’s health, without disturbing any of the resident wildlife.
    — Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 20 Aug. 2026
  • All three will face a slew of charges, including injuring or removing a tomb or monument, disturbing the contents of a grave or tomb and grand theft, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday.
    — Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of disturbing
Adjective
  • The puzzling question has been that, considering the high competition from other sourcing regions in the vicinity, including Vietnam and Bangladesh, and facing relatively higher labor costs, how can Thailand continue to stay in the game?
    — Mayu Saini, Footwear News, 12 Aug. 2026
  • McAlister remaining unsigned has been one of the more puzzling offseason storylines for TCU.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 July 2026
Definition of puzzling
Verb
  • The development proved alarming enough that OpenAI vowed last week to slow the release of its upcoming Astra AI model.
    — Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Found in many foods For consumers, of course, the latest food safety concerns can be alarming given that lettuce and jalapeño peppers are used in many of the roughly 1 billion meals Americans consume daily.
    — Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of alarming

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distracting
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Cite this Entry

“Distracting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/distracting. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

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