Adrift definition

ə-drĭft
Without direction or purpose.
adjective
5
0
Drifting or floating freely; not anchored.
adjective
3
1
Without any particular aim or purpose.
adverb
3
1
(of a seaman) Absent from his watch.
adjective
1
0

So on the sea shall be set adrift. --Dryden.

adjective
1
1
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(chiefly UK, often with of) Behind one's opponents, or below a required threshold in terms of score, number or position.

The team were six points adrift of their rivals.

adjective
0
0
In a drifting condition; at the mercy of wind and waves.
adverb
0
0
The definition of adrift is someone or something moving aimlessly without power, direction or restrictions.

A boat that is floating on the water with no means of steering or stopping is an example of being adrift.

A person who has no career plans or goals may be an example of a person who is adrift.

adjective
0
1
Floating freely without being steered; not anchored; drifting.
adverb
0
1

Origin of adrift

  • Prefix a- (for on) + drift.

    From Wiktionary

Adrift Sentence Examples

  • The commander, Lieutenant William Bligh, was set adrift in the launch with part of the crew, but managed to make his way to Timor in the Malay Archipelago.

  • Prevented by ill-health from serving his full term, he found himself adrift in the world, without money or friends.

  • The Turkish fleet, "adrift in the Archipelago" - as the British seamen put it - though greatly superior in tonnage and weight of metal, could never be a match for the Greek brigs, manned as these were by trained, if not disciplined, crews.

  • After a horrible weeping fit, Alice sees the bottle and shrinks herself again, only to find herself adrift in a sea of her own tears.

  • We are often adrift in an illusion that seems real.

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Words near adrift in the Dictionary