adrift
Americanadjective
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floating without control; drifting; not anchored or moored.
The survivors were adrift in the rowboat for three days.
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lacking aim, direction, or stability.
adjective
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floating without steering or mooring; drifting
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without purpose; aimless
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informal off course or amiss
the project went adrift
Etymology
Origin of adrift
Explanation
If something's adrift, it's floating, not tied down or anchored. A raft that's adrift on a river will float downstream. If a ship goes adrift, it meanders off course, simply traveling with the water rather than on a charted course. Likewise, if you feel your life has gone figuratively adrift, you may have lost track of your plans and feel like you're wandering without a purpose. The word adrift comes from the sense of drift that means "a slow movement from one place to another," from an Old Norse root word.
Vocabulary lists containing adrift
Illegal
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Charlotte's Web
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The Young Man and the Sea
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Antonelli's error gives Russell, who is 81 points adrift in the championship, a second chance in three races to narrow his deficit to the Italian.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Strout, a former Pulitzer Prize winner and double Booker nominee, tells the story of a high school history teacher in his 50s who feels adrift in modern America.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
He was a sad figure adrift, a relic virtually alone until he was hunted down by the CIA and French intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
With no career prospects and their ballasts gone, they were adrift.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
For most of the days, Mariam stayed in bed, feeling adrift and forlorn.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
