Detract means to diminish, take away from, or reduce the value of. It’s mainly used intransitively (i.e., not requiring a direct object), and its usually followed by from. Its transitive uses are usually best served by distract. Distract, which is always used transitively (meaning that it must have a direct object), means to divert attention or interest. It is almost always followed immediately by the person or thing being distracted.
Examples
These writers use detract well:
Gonzalez said Chavez was merely trying to use sexual orientation to detract from her own shortcomings. [Kris TV (article now offline)]
I don’t want to detract from the enormity of this loss to Poland’s citizens, many of whom are still grieving. [True/Slant]
And these writers use distract well:
Operating a cell phone can distract the driver and cause an accident, but we shouldn’t penalize drivers who are otherwise driving safely. [News 9]
Newspapers are easy to handle, easy to read, and they don’t festoon stories with links that are designed to distract an already distracted brain. [Washington Post]
Keep in mind that attention is not a person or thing capable of being distracted. So this construction makes no sense:
Certain activities can distract a driver’s attention and lead to crashes, the Winchester Police Department warns in a press release. [NV Daily]
This sentence technically states that it is the driver’s attention, not the driver, that is distracted. This would make more sense:
Certain activities can distract a driver and lead to crashes . . .
Because attention is included in the meaning of distract, it doesn’t need to be included in the sentence.
