adriftadv.adj.
/əˈdrɪft/, U.S. /əˈdrɪft/ A. adv.
1. In or into a drifting condition; so as to drift without being moored, steered, propelled, etc.Frequently in to set (also cut, turn, etc.) adrift: to leave (a person or thing) to drift without means of propulsion, usually deliberately; see also to cast adrift at cast v. 63, cut v. 14a.
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the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > movement in or on water > [adverb] > driven by current
adrift1578
awash1870
1578 G. Best True Disc. Passage to Cathaya iii.14 Some of the Shippes..did take in their Sayles, and there lay adrift.
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia i. 16 The ship yet went so fast a drift.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. viii. 152 Set adrift in that monstrous wooden Chest.
1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 175 We were obliged..to cut the Raft adrift.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. (1856) xxxviii. 353 Caught and carried adrift on disengaged ice-floes.
1885 Dict. National Biogr. V. 219/2 On 28 April 1789 he [sc. Bligh], with eighteen of his crew, were overmastered and cast adrift in an open boat.
1923 D. A. Mackenzie Myths China & Japan x. 156 The virgin-princess Pritha, was similarly set adrift in an ark.
1971 N. Brown Antarctic Housewife v. 36 A catcher..towing five whales alongside, which, when set adrift,..became the target for scores of sea birds.
2009 Daily Tel. 19 Nov. 21/5 Five Papua New Guineans were recovering in hospital yesterday after spending more than two months adrift in the Pacific Ocean.
2. In extended use.
a. Away from the usual or expected course, position, or situation; loose, awry.
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the world > relative properties > relationship > non-relation > [adverb]
aboard1591
inconnexedly1646
irrelatively1659
adrift1690
unrelatively1738
the world > space > place > absence > [adverb] > absent, lost, or lacking
adrift1690
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. vii. 52 And so we should..let our Thoughts (if I may so call it) run a drift without any direction or design.
1727 E. Young Universal Passion: Satire V 26 The mind, when turn'd adrift, no rules to guide, Drives at the mercy of the wind and tide.
1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley vii. 106 The concern must be closed and all these people turned adrift.
1878 W. Black Green Pastures xvii. 139 To cut myself adrift from my relatives.
1962 ‘C. Marchant’ Heritage of Folly vii. 208 The work schedule had gone completely adrift.
1998 Community Care 30 Apr. 18/2 In hindsight, social work went adrift from 1970 onwards.
b. Originally Nautical. Away from a fixed, attached, or fastened state; apart, off.
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the world > relative properties > relationship > non-relation > [adverb] > adrift or away from
adrift1843
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > [adverb] > unfastened
adrift1843
1843 F. Chamier Perils of Beauty II. 82 The Admiral took the [mummified] bird in his hand... The long neck and long bill came adrift.
1868 W. H. Russell Diary 1 May in Diary Tour Prince & Princess of Wales (1869) II. xxi. 624 Most probably the oar on which the ‘A’ was fastened came adrift, and the boy fell overboard.
1910 J. Masefield Martin Hyde i. 4 His beard came adrift on the side nearest to me. The man was wearing a false beard.
1962 Which? Car Suppl. Oct. 138/2 The mounting bracket for the accelerator linkage came adrift from the bulkhead.
2002 Church Times 9 Aug. 14/3 Maybe the clock backing has come adrift.
c. colloquial (originally and chiefly Sport). Frequently with of. Wide of, behind (the position or score of a competitor).
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1971 Times 13 Nov. 15 England..share third place with New Zealand, eight strokes adrift of the leaders.
1976 Evening Post (Nottingham) 15 Dec. 23/2 She finished third in 2 min. 14.2 sec.—well adrift of Katrina Colebrook who set a new UK indoor best time of 2 min. 5 sec.
1990 Independent on Sunday 18 Feb. 23/7 A double bogey that left him three shots adrift of Stelten.
2007 Snooker Scene Aug. 10/1 He edged the opening frame but fell 3–1 adrift after Grace compiled breaks of 50 and 88.
B. adj. In predicative use, or as postmodifier.
1. That drifts; drifting in (also on) something. Also in figurative context.
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1626 J. Smith Accidence Young Sea-men 29 Rocke-weede, adrift, or flotes.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 832 Then shall this Mount Of Paradise by might of Waves be moovd,..With all his verdure spoil'd, and Trees adrift . View more context for this quotation
1775 Remembrancer 1 43/1 In the morning, the sails were seen fluttering about; she was adrift in the middle of the Lake.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xviii 124 ‘There's a lighter adrift,’ said I.
1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed xi. 220 He was adrift on the shoreless tides of delirium.
1940 Astonishing Stories Dec. 26 Two spacewrecked honeymooners, adrift in the void for six days, can't be choosy about their rescuers.
2003 T. Griggs Rogue's Wedding ix. 91 [He] floated away like a pine chip,..riding buoyant on the waves as if he were adrift in the salty dead sea.
2. In extended use.
a. Of a person or group of people: lacking purpose or direction; disorientated, confused; lost.
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the mind > will > intention > unintentional or unplanned character > [adjective] > unintentional or involuntary > aimless
purposeless1552
aimless1583
wayless1605
shapelessa1616
designless1649
scopeless1666
unmeaning1680
objectless1797
motiveless1798
purportless1802
driftless1806
adrift1818
unpurpose-like1825
unpurposed1827
goalless1828
nothingarian1859
1818 E. C. Everard Mem. Unfortunate Son Thespis 174 I then went to a party [sc. a theatre company] at Ross in Herefordshire; there the manager also broke up, and I was adrift again!
1876 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Her Dearest Foe III. ii. 46 Galbraith, his heart beating fast, walked up to where Kate stood, striving to think, and feeling unspeakably adrift.
1919 H. P. Davison Amer. Red Cross in Great War xii. 152 Whole families found themselves separated: fathers were in the trenches, mothers worked in the munition factories, while the children were adrift in a world of disorder.
1996 F. Popcorn & L. Marigold Clicking ii. 125 The bad news is that our society is adrift, but the good news is that it's still afloat.
2011 Daily Dispatch (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 31 Mar. The youth of Kwelera are adrift, as in many communities throughout the nation.
b. Originally Nautical. Of an object: no longer fixed in position; unfastened, detached; (also) missing.
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the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > [adjective] > loose, unfastened, or untied > loosened, unfastened, or untied
yloused1387
unlokec1410
undone1565
loosened1680
diffixed1727
unreeved1730
dissoluteda1777
adrift1834
1834 W. N. Glascock Naval Sketch Bk. I. 8 The whole of the lower rigging was adrift.
1841 H. J. Mercier & W. Gallop Life in Man-of-War 92 ‘What's become of all our brooms and our squilgees?’.. ‘They're all adrift.’
1946 J. Irving Royal Navalese 20 Adrift... In a secondary sense it also means that something has become undone or unfastened.
1962 C. Evans Heart of Standing 19 Make sure you get everything checked in and signed off, because if there's anything adrift it will come off your slop chit.
2004 W. F. Althoff USS Los Angeles iv. 96 Along the keel [of the airship], various items were adrift as well, adding to the clatter.
c. Nautical. Of a serviceman, servicewoman, or merchant sailor: absent without leave; late returning from leave.
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society > travel > travel by water > seafaring life > [adverb] > late returning to ship
adrift1919
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > type of soldier generally > [adverb] > absent without leave
AWOL1895
adrift1919
1919 W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 7 Adrift,..A.W.L [= Absent Without Leave].
1942 Gen 1 Sept. 13/1 I mustn't be adrift too late.
2000 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 16 Jan. (Mag.) 16/3 Some talk of sailors ‘adrift’. So-and-so has been adrift four hours..and is confined to punishment quarters.
d. colloquial (originally and chiefly Sport). Short or wide of a target, estimate, score, etc.
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the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > [adverb] > not achieving
adrift1976
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > inaccuracy, inexactness > [adverb] > in calculation
unmathematically1644
out1809
adrift1976
1976 Leicester Mercury 14 Oct. 46/1 Rose was adrift with a couple of penalties before Leicestershire opened their account.
1978 Guardian Weekly 15 Jan. 1/3 That will leave the United States 100 billion dollars adrift on its balance of payments.
1983 Times 6 June 18/2 Reed..was already £16m adrift at the pretax level at the nine-month stage.
2006 South Wales Evening Post (Nexis) 30 Jan. 42 Swansea played catch-up to the extent that they were twice just four points adrift.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adv.adj.1578