To Distract
To Divert, To Take One's Mind Off
transitive verb, godan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means distract and the verb vocab version of this word is to distract or to divert.
紛らす generally refers to trying to take your mind off negative things like boredom, pain, sadness, or stress, as in 気を紛らす (to distract yourself) or 痛みを紛らす (to take your mind off the pain). You're not removing the problem itself, just giving your brain something else to focus on so you can forget about it for a little while.
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:
When you want to distract yourself from all your troubles, you hang out with your pal Maggie (まぎ). Maggie's the most awesome person you know, and being around her always helps you to divert yourself from life's problems. Thanks for being such a great shoulder to lean on, Maggie!
気を紛らす
to distract oneself
気持ちを紛らす
to take one's mind off one's feelings
さみしさを紛らす
to distract oneself from loneliness
恐怖を紛らす
to distract oneself from fear
とりあえず動画見て気を紛らしてる。
I'm just watching videos to distract myself.
彼は酒でその不安を紛らそうとした。
He tried to drown his anxiety in alcohol.
ご飯を買うお金がないので、ガムを噛んで空腹を紛らしていました。
I didn't have money to buy food, so I chewed gum to distract myself from my hunger.