adrift

/əˈdrɪft/

/əˈdrɪft/

If something's adrift, it's floating, not tied down or anchored. A raft that's adrift on a river will float downstream.

If a ship goes adrift, it meanders off course, simply traveling with the water rather than on a charted course. Likewise, if you feel your life has gone figuratively adrift, you may have lost track of your plans and feel like you're wandering without a purpose. The word adrift comes from the sense of drift that means "a slow movement from one place to another," from an Old Norse root word.

Definitions of adrift

1. adjective

   afloat on the surface of a body of water
   “after the storm the boats were adrift”

   synonyms:

   afloat, natant

   swimming or floating in water
2. adjective

   aimlessly drifting
   synonyms: afloat, aimless, directionless, planless, rudderless, undirected

   purposeless

   not evidencing any purpose or goal
3. adverb

   floating freely; not anchored
4. adverb

   off course, wandering aimlessly
   “there was a search for beauty that had somehow gone adrift”