Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
distrait, distracted, distraught (adjs.)
These words are at least partly synonymous. Distrait is a word of French origin, still pronounced in the French way, (dis-TRAI); it also has a French feminine form, distraite (pronounced dis-TRAIT), now rare in English; distrait’s meanings in English are variously “upset, confused, inattentive, distracted, abstracted.” It is a very low frequency word, perhaps even precious-sounding, limited to relatively Formal and literary uses or to consciously cultivated speech: She was flushed and nervous, so distrait that she did not notice that her purse was open. Distraught means “extremely confused, maddened, wild with anxiety”: The parents were hysterical, distraught with fear for their missing child. Distracted has two related senses: “having the attention drawn away, diverted to something else” (The squeal of tires distracted her from her writing) and “being confused, drawn in all sorts of conflicting directions, not able to be fully rational” (The noise finally drove me distracted; I could neither think nor talk sensibly). See also ABSTRACTED.
