drifter

[drif-ter]

noun

1. a person or thing that drifts.

2. a person who goes from place to place, job to job, etc., remaining in each for a short period.

3. Also called drift boat. a boat used in fishing with a drift net.

drifter

/ ˈdrɪftə /

noun

1. a person or thing that drifts

2. a person who moves aimlessly from place to place, usually without a regular job

3. a boat used for drift-net fishing

4. nautical a large jib of thin material used in light breezes

Word History and Origins

Origin of drifter¹

First recorded in 1860–65; drift + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Collected by gliders, floats and drifters, these instruments provide valuable information about the most turbulent region of the hurricane environment, called the boundary layer, where the air meets the ocean.

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The Times, in an editorial, warned of “an army of floaters and drifters and plain hobos now headed to Southern California from all parts of the United States.”

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The buildings are frequented at night by the kind of drifters and petty criminals that Brückner once was.

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A drifter, he lived in Portugal's Algarve region, on and off, for years.

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“A man makes his choices,” Baldwin’s crusty, guilt-ridden drifter says to his grandkid at one point.

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Related Words

• hobo 
• transient 
• unhoused person www.thesaurus.com