If a boat is adrift, it is floating on the water and is not tied to anything or controlled by anyone.
They were spotted after three hours adrift in a dinghy.
Synonyms: drifting, afloat, cast off, unmoored More Synonyms of adrift
2. adjective [verb-link ADJECTIVE]
If someone is adrift, they feel alone with no clear idea of what they should do.
Amy had the growing sense that she was adrift and isolated.
Synonyms: aimless, goalless, directionless, purposeless More Synonyms of adrift
3. adjective [verb-link ADJECTIVE, ADJECTIVE after verb]
If something comes adrift, it is no longer attached to an object that it should be part of.
[British]
Three insulating panels had come adrift from the base of the vehicle. [+ from]
Synonyms: free, separate, divided, loose More Synonyms of adrift
4. graded adjective [verb-link ADJECTIVE, usu ADJof n]
In sporting competitions, if a team or a player is adriftof their rivals, they are behind them, usually by a specified number of points or by a specifieddistance.
[British]
Aberdeen are nine points adrift of Rangers at the top of the Scottish League.
5. graded adjective [verb-link ADJECTIVE]
If something has gone adrift, it is no longer happening in the way that was intended.
We have seen this as an attempt to place the blame for a policy that has gone adrift.
More Synonyms of adrift
adrift in British English
(əˈdrɪft)
adjective, adverb(postpositive)
1.
floating without steering or mooring; drifting
2.
without purpose; aimless
3. informal
off course or amiss
the project went adrift
adrift in American English
(əˈdrɪft)
adverb, adjective
1.
floating freely without being steered; not anchored; drifting
2.
without any particular aim or purpose
Examples of 'adrift' in a sentence
adrift
He was cut adrift from the agency and declared an outlaw.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
No one has been cast adrift and no one has really pulled clear of danger.
The Sun (2008)
It was impossible not to feel involuntarily cast adrift.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Could it be cast adrift in a bad year?
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The perfect combination of biblical echo and upbeat instruction for a modern society now often adrift without the old anchors of belief.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The Stags are three points adrift of safety at the bottom with five games left.
The Sun (2008)
They have taken five points from a possible 45 and are nine points adrift.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Yes, the club is at the foot of the table but they are hardly cut adrift.
The Sun (2009)
The result leaves Pool nine points adrift of safety.
The Sun (2015)
These are our people cut adrift from their normality, a nation all at sea.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Royals are now just three points adrift of 17th place.
The Sun (2013)
The Dons are nine points adrift of safety after battling from behind to secure a point.
The Sun (2016)
The good thing is we're not bottom or cut adrift.
The Sun (2014)
Princess Highway was another length and three quarters adrift.
The Sun (2012)
It is time the Government acted now to cut them adrift.
The Sun (2012)
Birmingham are in the relegation zone, three points adrift of safety.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
A boat adrift is a hazard to navigation.
Oxenhorn, Harvey Tuning the Rig: A Journey to the Arctic (1990)
They are as though adrift at sea without compass or destination, so they might as well demand that theirs be a pleasure cruise.
Christianity Today (2000)
I feel cast adrift from the mother ship that is the Times fashion desk.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
I thought he looked adrift in a place where nobody recognised him, apart from me.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Still, Britain has cast itself adrift.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He is 31 seconds adrift but will feel confident of overturning that because the Spaniard is weaker in the race against the clock.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
His songs visit the lives of people cast adrift in the world who struggle to make sense of hardship, loneliness, boredom and failed relationships.
The Sun (2007)
In other languages
adrift
British English: adrift ADJECTIVE
If a boat is adrift, it is floating on the water and is not tied to anything or controlled by anyone.
They were spotted after three hours adrift in a dinghy.
American English: adrift
Brazilian Portuguese: à deriva
Chinese: > 漂浮着的船
European Spanish: a la deriva
French: à la dérive
German: treibend
Italian: alla deriva
Japanese: 漂流して
Korean: 표류하는
European Portuguese: à deriva
Latin American Spanish: a la deriva
Chinese translation of 'adrift'
adrift
(əˈdrɪft)
adj
[boat, crew]漂浮的 (piāofú de)
(fig)[person]漂泊无(無)依的 (piāobó wúyī de)
to come adrift (Brit)[wire, rope, fastening etc]脱(脫)落 (tuōluò)
to set adrift[boat, crew]使漂流 (shǐ piāoliú)
1 (adjective)
Definition
drifting
They were spotted adrift in a dinghy.
Synonyms
drifting
afloat
cast off
unmoored
aweigh
unanchored
2 (adjective)
Definition
without a clear purpose
She had the growing sense that she was adrift and isolated.
Synonyms
aimless
After several hours of aimless driving they were getting low on fuel.
goalless
directionless
purposeless
Time may be wasted in purposeless meetings.
3 (adjective)
Three panels had come adrift from the base of the vehicle.
Synonyms
free
a confidential but free manner
separate
The two things are separate and mutually irrelevant.
divided
loose
A page came loose and floated onto the tiles.
severed
loosened
disconnected
a sequence of utterly disconnected events
unconnected
I can't believe that those two murders are unconnected.
disjoined
(adverb)
Definition
off course, wrong
They are trying to place the blame for a policy that has gone adrift.
Synonyms
wrong
Where did we go wrong with our friendship?
astray
off course
amiss
off target
wide of the mark
That comparison isn't as wide of the mark as it seems.