Dictionary

adrift en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /əˈdɹɪft/
• (General-American) audio
• ə-drĭft'

Etymology

From a- + drift.

Meanings

1. Floating at random.
   • So on the sea she shall be set adrift. 1673, John Dryden, Marriage à la mode:
2. (of a seaman) Absent from his watch.
3. (UK, often, with-of) Behind one's opponents, or below a required threshold in terms of score, number or position.
   • The Czech Republic in 1994-95, with a pegged nominal exchange rate and nominal deposit rates of 7 percent, was several percentage points adrift of the interest parity condition. 1996, David H. Begg, Monetary Policy in Central and Eastern Europe: Lessons After Half a Decade, International Monetary Fund, →ISBN:
   • Boro were left needing snookers after a toothless goalless draw with Dead Men Walking Doncaster left them well adrift and fading in the chase for a Championship play-off place. 2012 April 18, Anthony Vickers, “Boro 0 Doncaster Rovers 0”, in The Evening Gazette (Teesside):
   • Brendan Rodgers's team moved into the top 10 in the Premier League table, but they are nine points adrift of West Ham in fourth place, while Arsenal are sixth. 2014 December 21, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 2 - 2 Arsenal”, in BBC:
   • Treasury could also ask why High Speed 2's finances are so adrift from what was promised. The answers will make for difficult DfT reading, because it can't escape the fact that it has been the government department overseeing rail spending for the past 20 years. 2024 September 4, Philip Haigh, “Can public-private partnerships be made to deliver?”, in RAIL, number 1017, page 53:
   • The team were six points adrift of their rivals.
   • He did well, coming second, but Toyota and Mitsubishi were now neck-and-neck, with the Subaru team 38 points adrift of the leaders. 2006, Brian Long, Subaru Impreza: The Road Car & WRC Story, →ISBN, page 56:

Forms

Translations (16)

fi tuuliajolla (floating at random) · es a la deriva (floating at random) · hi अपवाहित (floating at random) · sv på drift (floating at random) · sv utan mal (floating at random) · de abtreibend (floating at random) · da drivende omkring (floating at random) · fr à la dérive (floating at random) · it alla deriva (floating at random) · kw dilewys (floating at random) · eo drivanta (floating at random) · ro în derivă (floating at random) · pt à deriva (floating at random) · ms hanyut (floating at random) · ca a la deriva (floating at random) · ru дрейфуюший (floating at random)

adrift en · ADV

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /əˈdɹɪft/
• (General-American) audio
• ə-drĭft'

Etymology

From a- + drift.

Meanings

1. In a drifting condition; at the mercy of wind and waves.
   • things wore on till eight or nine o'clock, every thing getting adrift and being smashed, and every one on board jamming themselves up in corners or holding on to beams to prevent their going adrift likewise 1858, John Mullaly, The Laying of the Cable, Or the Ocean Telegraph, page 231:

Forms

Deriveds

cast adrift · run adrift · set adrift

Translations (9)

de abtreiben (in a drifting condition) · it alla deriva (in a drifting condition) · ru дрейф (in a drifting condition) · es a la deriva (in a drifting condition) · ru по течению (in a drifting condition) · ro în derivă (in a drifting condition) · fr à la dérive (in a drifting condition) · fi tuuliajolla (in a drifting condition) · pt à deriva (in a drifting condition)