Many people drift through life without a purpose.
Source: tatoeba (1608)
Drift
//dɹɪft//
Synonyms for "drift" (491 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (99)
floatstrayaberrancyaberrationaccumulationadvanceaeroplaneaffective meaningaffluenceaffluxaffluxionaimairliftairplanealluvionalluviumambleangular motionanthillarmy
Show 74 more words
arrayascendingascentatmosphericsaxial motionazimuthbackflowingbackingbackward motionballoonbankbank upbatbat aroundbatchbe a sidelinerbe airbornebe stillbear offbearingbendbentbiasblaringblastingblind spotbranching offbrownian movementbumbunchbundlecareercircuitousnessclimbingclumpclusterclutchcoastcockcolonycolorcoloringconcourseconfluenceconfluxconnotationconsequencecontemplatecornercount tiescoursecrawlingcreepingcrookcrosscurrentcruisecurrentcurvedancedartdebrisdeclinationdefluxiondelaydenotationdeparturedepositdescendingdescentdetourdetritusdeviancedeviancydeviate
Strong matches (147)
deviationdeviousnessdigressdigressiondiluviumdirectiondirection linediscursiondispositiondivagatedivagationdivaricationdivergedivergencediversiondo nothingdoglegdoubledownflowdownpour
Show 111 more words
downward motiondrift off coursedriftagedriftingdrivedroveduneebbingeffectembankmenterrerrantryessenceexcurseexcursionexcursusexorbitationextensionfade outfade-outfadingfall downfashionferryfetch awayflickerflightflitflitterflockfloodflowflowingfluencyflutterfluxflyfootforceforward motionfreewheelgadgad aboutgallivantgamgangghostgistglacial movementglidego aboutgo astraygo the roundsgrammatical meaninggroupgushhairpinhang firehaycockhaymowhayrickhaystackheadingheapheap uphelmsmanshipherdhibernatehillhit the roadhit the trailhobohophosthoverhydroplaneideaidleimpactimplicationimportinactioninclinationincliningindirectioninflowintensionintentintentioninterferencejauntjetkennelknock aboutknock aroundlayleewaylexical meaninglielie dormantlineline of directionline of marchlingerliteral meaninglitterloesslotloungemain currentmainstream
Related words (245)
make leewaymassmaundermeandermeaningmigratemill runmillracemolehillmoochmopemorainemoseymotionmoundmountainmountingmovementmowmuck
Show 204 more words
navigatenavigationnoisenomadizenot budgenot stirobjectoblique motionobliquityongoingonrushonward courseorientationoutflowovertonepackparcelpartialitypasspassagepay offpenchantperegrinatepererratepererrationpertinencepilepile uppilotingpithplow the deepplungingpodpointpractical consequencepredilectionprideprogressprogressionprojectpropensityprowlpurportpurposepyramidquarterraceradial motionrambleramblingrandom motionrangerange of meaningreal meaningreceptionreferencereferentreflowingrefluencerefluxregressionrelationrelevancerestretrogressionrickrideride the searisingroamrollroveruckrunrun aboutrushsagsailsailplanesaunterschoolscopescreescudseaplanesedimentsemantic clustersemantic fieldsensesetsheershiftshiftingshifting courseshifting pathshoalshockshootsideward motionsignificancesignificationsignificatumsignifiesiltsinkingsintersit backsit it outskewskimskulkslantslideslipslothsnakesnowdriftsoarsoaringspan of meaningspatespiritstackstack upstagnatestaticsteeragesteeringsternwaystockpilestragglestrainstrayingstreamstrollstructural meaningsubsidingsubstancesumsum and substancesurgesweepswerveswervingswingswingingsymbolic meaningtacktake it easytake the airtake wingtempertendencytenorthe general tendencythe main coursethreadtidetime spirittonetotality of associationstracktraipsetrajecttrajettramptransferred meaningtrendtriptroopturnturningtwisttwist and turnunadorned meaningundercurrentundertoneundertowupward motionvagabondvagabondizevaluevariationveervegetatevolplanewaftwait and seewalk the trackswalk the waterswanderwanderingwarpwashwatch and waitwater flowwaywayfarewindwingyawyaw offzeitgeistzigzag
Noun(11 words)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
34 entriesShowing 16 of 34 words.
Synonyms
4 entriesderived
77 entriesShowing 16 of 77 words.
etymologically related_to
1 entrieshas context
10 entriesis a
7 entriesmanner of
6 entriesrelated to
67 entriesShowing 16 of 67 words.
similar
16 entriesTranslations
195 translations across 31 languages.
Arabic
1 entries- فَحَّط verb (to oversteer a vehicle, causing loss of traction)
Asturian
3 entries- calandriar verb (to move haphazardly without any destination)
- debalar verb (to move slowly, pushed by currents of water, air, etc)
- debalar verb (to move haphazardly without any destination)
Bulgarian
4 entries- дрейф noun (act or motion of drifting)
- дрейф noun (distance through which a current flows in a given time)
- дрейф noun (angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the meridian, in drifting)
- дрейф noun (distance to which a vessel is carried off from her desired course by the wind, currents, or other causes)
Catalan
3 entries- deriva noun (act or motion of drifting)
- vagar noun (anything driven at random)
- vagarejar noun (anything driven at random)
Cebuano
1 entries- anod noun (act or motion of drifting)
Chinese Mandarin
2 entries- 漂流 noun (act or motion of drifting)
- 漂流 verb (to move slowly, pushed by currents of water, air, etc)
Czech
1 entries- závěj noun (mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc.)
Danish
1 entries- drive noun (anything driven at random)
Dutch
1 entries- trekken verb (to deviate gently from the intended direction of travel)
Esperanto
4 entries- drivaĵo noun (driftwood included in flotsam washed up onto the beach)
- drivo noun (act or motion of drifting)
- drivi verb (to move slowly, pushed by currents of water, air, etc)
- drivi verb (to move haphazardly without any destination)
Estonian
1 entries- triiv noun (act or motion of drifting)
Finnish
4 entries- ajautuma noun (sideways movement of the ball through the air, when bowled by a spin bowler)
- ajautuminen noun (act or motion of drifting)
- ajautuminen noun (slow, cumulative change)
- ajautuva noun (that which is driven, forced, or urged along)
French
4 entries- dérive noun (act or motion of drifting)
- dériver verb (to move slowly, pushed by currents of water, air, etc)
- dévier verb (to deviate gently from the intended direction of travel)
- errer verb (to move haphazardly without any destination)
German
4 entries- Drift noun (act or motion of drifting)
- Verwehungen bilden verb (to accumulate in heaps by the force of wind)
- abdriften nach verb (to deviate gently from the intended direction of travel)
- driften verb (to move slowly, pushed by currents of water, air, etc)
Hebrew
1 entries- נסחף verb (to deviate gently from the intended direction of travel)
Higaonon
1 entries- anod noun (act or motion of drifting)
Irish
3 entries- síobadh noun (mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc.)
- síobán noun (mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc.)
- síob verb (to accumulate in heaps by the force of wind)
Italian
4 entries- ammasso noun (mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc.)
- cumolo noun (mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc.)
- deriva noun (act or motion of drifting)
- deriva noun (course or direction along which anything is driven; setting)
Japanese
3 entries- 漂流 noun (act or motion of drifting)
- ドリフト verb (to oversteer a vehicle, causing loss of traction)
- 漂流する verb (to move slowly, pushed by currents of water, air, etc)
Latvian
1 entries- dreifēt noun (act or motion of drifting)
Māori
4 entries- hū noun (the tendency of an act, argument, course of conduct, or the like; object aimed at or intended; intention)
- paratai noun (course or direction along which anything is driven; setting)
- paratai noun (mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc.)
- paratai noun (distance to which a vessel is carried off from her desired course by the wind, currents, or other causes)
Norwegian
1 entries- daffe verb (to move haphazardly without any destination)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- vandre verb (to deviate gently from the intended direction of travel)
Ottoman Turkish
2 entries- لغم noun (passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery; an adit or tunnel)
- نفق noun (passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery; an adit or tunnel)
Persian
1 entries- پرسه زدن verb (to move haphazardly without any destination)
Polish
3 entries- dryft noun (act or motion of drifting)
- zaspa noun (mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc.)
- dryfować verb (to move slowly, pushed by currents of water, air, etc)
Portuguese
4 entries- deriva noun (act or motion of drifting)
- derrapagem noun (act or motion of drifting)
- derivar verb (to move slowly, pushed by currents of water, air, etc)
- derivar verb (to move haphazardly without any destination)
Russian
4 entries- дрейф noun (act or motion of drifting)
- тенде́нция noun (the tendency of an act, argument, course of conduct, or the like; object aimed at or intended; intention)
- тече́ние noun (act or motion of drifting)
- валить боком verb (to oversteer a vehicle, causing loss of traction)
Spanish
4 entries- deriva noun (act or motion of drifting)
- derrape noun (act or motion of drifting)
- abatir verb (to move slowly, pushed by currents of water, air, etc)
- arribar verb (to move slowly, pushed by currents of water, air, etc)
Swedish
4 entries- drift noun (act or motion of drifting)
- drift noun (course or direction along which anything is driven; setting)
- drift noun (tool used in driving down compactly the composition contained in a rocket, or like firework)
- drift noun (passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery; an adit or tunnel)
Ukrainian
1 entries- дрейфува́ти verb (to move slowly, pushed by currents of water, air, etc)
Sample sentences
38 total sentences available.
Waves of joy drift through my opened heart.
Source: tatoeba (20684)
Maybe, but I can't catch the drift of even simple situations.
Source: tatoeba (40589)
The drift of the current is to the south.
Source: tatoeba (277849)
Showing 4 of 38 available sentences.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.