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

The two are among a handful of characters — like Flotsam and Jetsam, the surfer detectives — who reappear in Wambaugh’s work.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2025

David Wiesner is the triply Caldecotted king of this genre: Tuesday, in which a crew of frogs go joyriding on their levitating lily pads, is my particular favorite, and Flotsam is great too.

From Slate • Nov. 26, 2019

Metallica eventually hired Jason Newsted, who was then playing with the thrash-metal band Flotsam and Jetsam, to replace Burton.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 15, 2018

Flotsam is cargo or wreckage floating in the sea.

From The Guardian • Jun. 5, 2017

Flotsam means the leftover bits and pieces of a shipwreck, while jetsam means items thrown overboard on purpose.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood