də̇ˈstrȯt, usu -ȯd.+V adjective
Etymology: Middle English, modification of Latin distractus — more at distract
1.
a. : beset with doubt or mental conflict : deeply troubled : distracted , frantic
he must always be doing something, seeking relief in a factitious gaiety and nervous garrulity … a man beset and distraught — S.H.Adams
in his distraught state he allows himself to be hit by a truck — H.M.Jones
distraught with grief for the dead queen — Edna S.V. Millay
also : thrown into confusion or disorder (as through indecision, dissension, or lack of clear direction)
the affairs of the U.N. itself are tangled and distraught — Reporter
the postrevolutionary period which was more excited with aspirations, and nearly as distraught with terrors as our present epoch — Times Literary Supplement
b. : mentally deranged : crazed
she waited, pacing back and forth, pale and almost distraught — P.I.Wellman
as if thou wert distraught and mad with terror — Shakespeare
2. obsolete : torn apart : separated
his greedy throat … distraught — Edmund Spenser
• dis·traught·ly adverb