flotsam

American  

[flot-suhm] / ˈflɒt səm /

noun

1. the part of the wreckage of a ship and its cargo found floating on the water.

2. material or refuse floating on water.

3. useless or unimportant items; odds and ends.

4. a vagrant, penniless population.

   the flotsam of the city slums in medieval Europe.

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flotsam British  

/ ˈflɒtsəm /

noun

1. wreckage from a ship found floating Compare jetsam lagan

2. useless or discarded objects; odds and ends (esp in the phrase flotsam and jetsam )

3. vagrants

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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.

Example Sentences

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

While the garden is rooted in local culture, built bit by bit from the flotsam and jetsam of Los Angeles locations and plants native to the ecology, the programming is more global in approach.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2025

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

Bent fences and waterlogged front lawns were the norm, with small bridges clogged with flotsam and closed because of the destabilizing impact of so much charging water.

From New York Times • Jul. 10, 2023

“Gaea opened the earth, and I was consumed, exiled here in the belly of my father Tartarus, where all the useless flotsam collects—all the bits of creation he does not care for.”

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan