Word of the day: distrait

Today’s word is essentially a variation of one we use all the time (it even sounds pretty similar). But it also has silent letters, which some people dislike because they tend to be tricky. Personally, that’s something I dig, which helped me make my selection.

Though it seems to have an obvious pronunciation, “distrait” is actually pronounced “dis-TRAY,” which makes sense once you find out that it’s from Old French. It’s from distraire, meaning “to distract,” and from the Latin distrahere, meaning “to pull apart; to draw away; to distract.”

Le Distrait, the movie poster featured above, is a 1970 French comedy film featuring Pierre Malaquet, a creative, zany and incredibly scatterbrained young advertising manager who is always finding himself in comic situations. The alternative English title is “The Daydreamer.”  Makes sense, right?

Closely related to “distraught” and “distracted” (both of which have the same Latin source), it should be no surprise that “distrait” means “divided or withdrawn in attention, especially because of anxiety.” 

Here’s an example from Anita Brookner in her novel Falling Slowly: “Yet when she stopped for a cup of coffee, finding herself too distrait to begin work, the picture was in the course of being removed from the window.” 

So — the next time you need a personal day from work, tell your boss you’re too “distrait” to come in.  We’re not sure whether or not it will work, but it’s worth a try.


Do you have words you'd like to see featured on Funcoast.com?  Send an email to ashley@funcoast.com and let us know!