flotsam
Americannoun
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the part of the wreckage of a ship and its cargo found floating on the water.
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material or refuse floating on water.
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useless or unimportant items; odds and ends.
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a vagrant, penniless population.
the flotsam of the city slums in medieval Europe.
noun
Etymology
Origin of flotsam
1600–10; < Anglo-French floteson, derivative of floter to float < Old English flotian
Explanation
Flotsam is the floating wreckage of a ship. You'll often hear it used with the word jetsam, which refers to floating objects that have been thrown from a ship, usually to lighten it before it sinks. You can keep flotsam and jetsam straight by remembering that flotsam looks like the word, float, and jetsam looks like jettison which means to cast off. Usually it doesn't matter though as flotsam and jetsam are used together as an expression, mostly figuratively to mean things or people who are unwanted or discarded. What about the things that are cast from a ship but sink to the ocean floor instead of floating? That's called lagan.
Vocabulary lists containing flotsam
Seas The Day: Words That Shore Are Beachy
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"To Build a Fire," Vocabulary from the short story
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Life of Pi
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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.
Served over ice in a short glass and topped with fruit-salad flotsam, the elixir is lightly caffeinated, mildly fruity and as refreshing as stepping out of the Hanoi humidity into full-blast air conditioning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
Moreover, Musk’s unbanning of previously banned bad posters has resulted in some truly vile flotsam returning to the platform.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2023
The composition of the feed is another sore point, especially for Twitter users repelled by its algorithmic “For You” tab full of clickbait and other viral flotsam.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2023
But when Mr. Tunnell went to lift it up, the leg turned out to be a prosthetic, one of the many items of flotsam and jetsam that come ashore along the Texas coastline each year.
From New York Times ● May 20, 2023
It was a mystery why the skiff had washed up on our little island and not on Cuttyhunk where most treasure and flotsam came to rest.
From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk
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.
