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Synonyms

adrift

American  
[uh-drift] / əˈdrɪft /

adjective

  1. floating without control; drifting; not anchored or moored.

    The survivors were adrift in the rowboat for three days.

  2. lacking aim, direction, or stability.

adrift British  
/ əˈdrɪft /

adjective

  1. floating without steering or mooring; drifting

  2. without purpose; aimless

  3. informal off course or amiss

    the project went adrift
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of adrift

First recorded in 1615–25; a- 1 + drift

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.

The club had been a point off the play-off places after a 3-2 win at Hull City on 7 February, but are now 12 points adrift of the top six.

From BBC

The characters she plays in that show and in this film are financially cosseted but psychologically adrift, bumping along from one middle-aged frustration, or humiliation, to the next.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

Moscow’s salesman-in-chief has turned the Iran war to his favor, selling oil that until recently was adrift at sea.

From The Wall Street Journal

Another eyesore home defeat, this time to Gloucester, cut them adrift of the top eight and a European spot for next season.

From BBC

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.