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Distract vs Baffle - What's the difference?

distract | baffle |

In lang=en terms the difference between distract and baffle

is that distract is to divert the attention of while baffle is to struggle in vain.

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between distract and baffle

is that distract is (obsolete) insane; mad while baffle is (obsolete) to hoodwink or deceive (someone).

As verbs the difference between distract and baffle

is that distract is to divert the attention of while baffle is (obsolete) to publicly disgrace, especially of a recreant knight.

As an adjective distract

is (obsolete) separated; drawn asunder.

As a noun baffle is

a device used to dampen the effects of such things as sound, light, or fluid specifically, a baffle is a surface which is placed inside an open area to inhibit direct motion from one part to another, without preventing motion altogether.

distract

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To divert the attention of.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 10, author=David Ornstein, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Arsenal 1-0 Everton , passage=While Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had warned his players against letting the pre-match festivities distract them from the task at hand, they clearly struggled for fluency early on.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Travels and travails , passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.}}
    '

    Related terms

    * distracted * distractible * distracting * distraction

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (obsolete) Separated; drawn asunder.
  • (obsolete) Insane; mad.
    • (Drayton)

    baffle

    English

    Verb

    (baffl)
  • (obsolete) To publicly disgrace, especially of a recreant knight.
  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.7:
    • He by the heeles him hung upon a tree, / And baffuld so, that all which passed by / The picture of his punishment might see […].
  • (obsolete) To hoodwink or deceive (someone).
    • (Barrow)
  • To bewilder completely; to confuse or perplex.
    • I am baffled by the contradictions and omissions in the instructions.
  • * Prescott
    • calculations so difficult as to have baffled , until within a recent period, the most enlightened nations
  • * John Locke
    • The mere intricacy of a question should not baffle us.
  • * Cowper
    • the art that baffles time's tyrannic claim
  • * South
    • a suitable scripture ready to repel and baffle them all
  • To struggle in vain.
    • A ship baffles with the winds.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A device used to dampen the effects of such things as sound, light, or fluid. Specifically, a baffle is a surface which is placed inside an open area to inhibit direct motion from one part to another, without preventing motion altogether.
    • Tanker trucks use baffles to keep the liquids inside from sloshing around.
  • An architectural feature designed to confuse enemies or make them vulnerable.