drift

Meanings

1. 1verbintransitive

   To be carried slowly along by water, air, or some other force, without steering or control.

   Grammar: No object: the boat drifted. You can add a direction with adverbs or prepositional phrases: drift away, drift out to sea.

   Patterns

   • drift away
   • drift out to sea
   • drift down/along something

   The empty canoe drifted slowly down the river.

   Smoke from the campfire drifted over the hills.

   After the storm, pieces of wood drifted onto the beach.

2. 2verbintransitive

   To move or live without a clear plan or purpose, letting events decide what happens.

   Grammar: Often used with from, into, or apart to show a change over time: drift into a job, drift apart.

   Patterns

   • drift into something
   • drift from something
   • drift apart

   After college he drifted for a few years, working odd jobs.

   She drifted into teaching almost by accident.

   The two friends gradually drifted apart after moving to different cities.

3. 3nounsingular

   The general meaning or main point of what someone says or writes, even if it is not stated directly.

   Grammar: Usually used with the: the drift of the argument. Common in the phrase get someone's drift.

   Patterns

   • the drift of something
   • get someone's drift
   • catch someone's drift

   I didn't understand every word, but I caught the drift of his speech.

   She kept hinting, and eventually I got her drift.

   The drift of the report was that costs must be cut.

4. 4nouncountable or uncountable

   A slow, steady movement of something such as snow, sand, or leaves, or the pile it forms.

   Grammar: Countable when referring to piles (snow drifts), uncountable when referring to the movement (drift of sand).

   Patterns

   • snow drift
   • a drift of sand/leaves
   • the drift of something

   Deep snow drifts blocked the road after the blizzard.

   The wind caused a slow drift of sand across the desert track.

   We had to dig the car out of a drift.

Word forms

Common combinations

drift apart

We used to be close, but we've drifted apart since school.

drift into something

He drifted into journalism after writing for a student paper.

get someone's drift

I get your drift — you want me to leave early.

snow drift

The snow drift against the fence was taller than me.

drift off

I drifted off during the lecture and missed the main point.

Synonyms and how they differ

float

Float suggests staying on the surface of a liquid or moving gently in air; drift emphasizes being carried without control by a current or wind.

wander

Wander is used for people or animals moving without a fixed route; drift is more about being pushed by external forces or lacking purpose in life.

gist

Gist is a synonym for the noun sense 'the general meaning'; it is more common in everyday speech than drift in this sense.

Opposites

Word family

drifter noun

A person who moves from place to place without a fixed home or job.

drifting adjective

Moving slowly without control, or (of a person) lacking a clear direction in life.

Commonly confused: drift or draft?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “drift”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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