drifting
noun
drift·ing ˈdrif-tiŋ 
: the act or activity of steering an automobile so that it makes a controlled skid sideways through a turn with the front wheels pointed in a direction opposite to that of the turn
Drifting began in the early 1980s with a Japanese race-car driver named Keiichi Tsuchiya. Mr. Tsuchiya, who was in his 20s, started experimenting with drifting and practiced it on curvy roads deep in the mountains near his hometown. He says he was perfecting his ability to not spin out on curves in car races.
Norihiko Shirouzu et al.
Norihiko Shirouzu et al. also : a sport in which drivers compete at this activity
Drifting has nothing to do with racing. There's no checkered flag. It's more like figure skating than speed skating, with a three-judge panel awarding points based on speed, angle of attack and style. They take points away for going off course, stalling or running into course markers—including walls. And for driving straight: The goal is to control the car as it slides sideways around turns, as if on ice, at full throttle. W. J. Hennigan
W. J. Hennigan 
Word History
First Known Use
1998, in the meaning defined above
drifting 1 of 2
adjective
1
as in meandering
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- meandering
- wandering
- ranging
- roaming
- rambling
- walking
- roving
- vagrant
- vagabond
- gallivanting
- nomadic
- sauntering
- wayfaring
- ambulatory
- galavanting
- peripatetic
- nomad
- itinerant
- footloose
- traipsing
- errant
- strolling
- peregrine
- ambulant
- migrant
- fugitive
- migratory
- perambulatory
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- standing
- static
- stationary
- settled
- motionless
- still
- immobile
- nonmoving
2
as in gliding
Synonyms & Similar Words
- gliding
- sailing
- hovering
- wafting
- floating
- hanging
- free-floating
- afloat
- awash
- floaty
- poised
- unsinkable
- buoyant
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- sinking
- sunk
- aground
- high and dry
drifting
2 of 2verb
1
as in flowing
to move or proceed smoothly and readily casual conversation drifting from one topic to another Synonyms & Similar Words
- flowing
- gliding
- cruising
- sailing
- sliding
- slipping
- rolling
- racing
- flying
- sweeping
- coasting
- brushing
- speeding
- bowling
- rushing
- streaming
- breezing
- skimming
- whisking
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- floundering
- struggling
- trudging
- shuffling
- stumbling
- plodding
- limping
- lumbering
- laboring
- stomping
- tramping
- toiling
- stamping
- shambling
- stumping
2
as in hovering
to rest or move along the surface of a liquid or in the air the boat drifted along on the current Synonyms & Similar Words
- hovering
- floating
- sailing
- swimming
- gliding
- wafting
- bobbing
- riding
- hanging
- dangling
- poising
- suspending
- ballooning
- rafting
- buoying
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- sinking
- settling
- plunging
- diving
- lunging
- dipping
- submerging
- immersing
- submersing
3
as in wandering
to move about from place to place aimlessly spent several years drifting from town to town, picking up odd jobs whenever he needed cash Synonyms & Similar Words
- wandering
- roaming
- floating
- cruising
- strolling
- meandering
- ranging
- roving
- gallivanting
- traipsing
- rambling
- maundering
- sauntering
- galavanting
- batting
- mooching
- ambling
- knocking (about)
- kicking around
- straying
- dawdling
- gadding (about)
- moping
- gypsying
- hoboing
- straggling
- vagabonding
- tramping
- milling (about or around)