adrift
Americanadjective
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floating without control; drifting; not anchored or moored.
The survivors were adrift in the rowboat for three days.
-
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.
This country is tiled with adrift twentysomething males, beset with incoherent politics, whose opinion about any issue is generated in the 10 seconds after they’ve been asked the question.
From Slate • Apr. 13, 2026
Currently occupying that dreaded 18th spot are Spurs, sitting two points adrift of safety and desperate to find form quickly to salvage their campaign under Roberto de Zerbi - their third manager of the season.
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026
Divorce, marriage, kids, no kids; so many of the men in McCarthy’s orbit feel alienated, adrift, untethered to any community.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026
Etibar Eyyub has turned the Iran war to his favor, selling shiploads of oil that had been adrift at sea.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
Without my anger, I was adrift and drowning.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
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.
