Drift Definition

drĭft

drifted, drifting, drifts

verb

drifted, drifting, drifts

To cause to drift.

Webster's New World

To be carried along by circumstances; go along aimlessly.

Webster's New World

To cover with drifts.

Webster's New World

To proceed or move unhurriedly or aimlessly.

Drifting among the party guests; a day laborer, drifting from town to town.

American Heritage

To live or behave without a clear purpose or goal.

Drifted through his college years unable to decide on a career.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
bum-around
go-with-the-flow
be carried along
tend
gravitate
move with the current
wander at random
coast
float
stray
rove
roam
wanderer
be caught in the current
go with the tide

Antonyms:

noun

drifts

A being driven or carried along, as by a current of air or water or by circumstances.

Webster's New World

A bank or pile, as of sand or snow, heaped up by currents of air or water.

American Heritage

The course on which something is directed or driven.

Webster's New World

The deviation of a ship, airplane, rocket, etc. from its path, caused by side currents or winds.

Webster's New World

A slow ocean current.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

idiom

drift apart

to gradually lose interest in or affection for each other

Webster's New World

drift off

to fall asleep

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Drift

Noun

Singular:

drift

Plural:

drifts

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Drift

Origin of Drift

From Middle English drift, dryft (“act of driving, drove, shower of rain or snow, impulse”), from Old English *drift (“drift”), from Proto-Germanic *driftiz (“drift”), from Proto-Indo-European *dhreibh- (“to drive, push”). Cognate with North Frisian drift (“drift”), Dutch drift (“drift, passion, urge”), German Drift (“drift”) and Trift (“drove, pasture”), Swedish drift (“impulse, instinct”), Icelandic drift (“drift, snow-drift”). Related to drive.

From Wiktionary
From Middle English drove, herd, act of driving dhreibh- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition