Adrift — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

aimlessly drifting

afloat on the surface of a body of water

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/kˈætbɜːdz/

🇬🇧British English

/kˈiːnəstili/

🇮🇳Indian English

/kˈiːnəstili/

2 syllables Say it as /kˈætbɜːdz/.

Examples

after the storm the boats were adrift
the boat wasset adrift
there was a search for beauty that had somehow gone adrift

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

undirected afloat directionless rudderless planless aimless

Parts of Speech

adjective	aimlessly drifting
adjective	afloat on the surface of a body of water “after the storm the boats were adrift”
adverb	floating freely; not anchored “the boat wasset adrift”
adverb	off course, wandering aimlessly “there was a search for beauty that had somehow gone adrift”

Word Forms

aimlessness

noun

the quality of lacking any definite purpose

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

treibend

ziellos treiben

🇫🇷French

à la dérive

dérive sans but

🇪🇸Spanish

a la deriva

a la deriva sin rumbo

🇮🇹Italian

alla deriva

andare alla deriva senza meta

🇳🇱Dutch

op drift

doelloos ronddwalen

🇵🇹Portuguese

à deriva

vagando sem rumo

🇷🇺Russian

дрейфовать по течению

бесцельно дрейфующий

India

🇮🇳Hindi

भटकते हुए

लक्ष्यहीन रूप से बहते रहना

🇧🇩Bengali

প্রবাহিত

উদ্দেশ্যহীনভাবে প্রবাহিত

🇮🇳Tamil

அலைந்து திரிதல்

இலக்கில்லாமல் அலைகிறது

🇮🇳Telugu

కొట్టుకుపోతారు

లక్ష్యం లేకుండా కూరుకుపోతోంది

🇮🇳Marathi

वाहून जाणे

निर्हेतुकपणे वाहणे

🇮🇳Gujarati

વહી જવું

ધ્યેય વિના વહી જવું

🇮🇳Kannada

ಅಲೆಯುವ

ಗುರಿಯಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಅಲೆಯುತ್ತಿದೆ

🇮🇳Malayalam

ഒഴുകിപ്പോകുന്നു

ലക്ഷ്യമില്ലാതെ ഒഴുകുന്നു

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਭਟਕਣਾ

ਉਦੇਸ਼ ਰਹਿਤ ਵਹਿਣਾ

🇵🇰Urdu

پیچھے ہٹنا

بے مقصد بہتی

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

漂流

漫无目的地漂流

🇯🇵Japanese

漂流する

あてもなく漂流する

🇰🇷Korean

떠돌아

목적 없이 표류하다

🇻🇳Vietnamese

trôi dạt

trôi dạt không mục đích

🇹🇭Thai

ลอยไป

ล่องลอยไปอย่างไร้จุดหมาย

🇮🇩Indonesian

terapung

melayang tanpa tujuan

🇵🇭Filipino

naaanod

walang layunin na inaanod

🇲🇾Malay

hanyut

hanyut tanpa tujuan

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

على غير هدى

الانجراف بلا هدف

🇮🇷Persian

سرگردان

بی هدف در حال حرکت کردن

🇹🇷Turkish

başıboş

amaçsızca sürüklenmek

🇮🇱Hebrew

נִסחָף

נסחף ללא מטרה

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'adrift'?

The primary meaning of 'adrift' is 'aimlessly drifting'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'adrift' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'adrift' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'adrift' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'adrift' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'adrift' in your daily reading?

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In your opinion, does the word 'adrift' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

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Would you classify 'adrift' as formal, casual, or slang?

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