adrift

adjective

Definition of adriftnext
as in deserted

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of adrift While the Fed’s quarter-point hike may seem small, its ripple effects — higher borrowing costs, a housing market that’s locking out an entire generation of first-time buyers — have left many Americans adrift. — Jill Schlesinger, Mercury News, 28 Sep. 2026 Perfect circles, balls, spheres adrift somewhere in her imagination. — Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026 When her mother dies some years later, the protagonist, then age eleven, is left adrift. — Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026 Left floating adrift are the mothers, fathers and children who are deprived of the same access and options as kids in other states. — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2026 Visitors paid to tour the doomed vessel before it was towed upriver and set adrift toward the falls, its unwilling crew left to their fate. — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026 United has not won the Premier League title since Ferguson’s final season and Carrick’s team is already eight points adrift of leaders Arsenal and City going into the next round of games. — ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026 Once adrift in mediocrity, SMU has returned to relevance, making a CFP appearance in 2024. — The Athletic College Football Staff, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026 Step aboard the Grampus, a whaleship gone adrift after a storm, rations running out and a violent mutiny, and learn what happened to its ghost whalers. — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 16 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adrift
  1. deserted
  2. divided
  3. forsaken
  4. neglected
  5. forgotten
  6. abandoned
  7. disjointed
  8. disconnected
Adjective
  • The suitcase containing her body was found soon afterward by railway tracks in a deserted area.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Supporting this theory, the population of Lauriacum increased threefold over the next fifty years, with the deserted settlement now being used as a quarry.
    — Anne Doran, ARTnews.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of deserted
Adjective
  • Yet views of Democrats remain divided, and many AAPI adults worry about election misinformation, voter suppression and legal challenges to results.
    — Terry Tang, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • From the fuchsia silk strapless gown to its pleated train in rose and pale pink, Instagram fans instantly fell in love with the tonal mix (a black bow in back, however, divided style pundits, some deeming it an unnecessary detail).
    — Laurie Brookins, HollywoodReporter, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of divided
Adjective
  • The funding infusion represents the second significant capital raised toward the sweeping project, which so far has involved entities connected to Mehta purchasing half a dozen properties on three blocks of Fillmore between Clay and Pine streets, including the forsaken theater.
    — Laura Waxmann, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 Apr. 2026
  • Swift rewrites the forsaken lover's fate through her own lens.
    — Bryan West, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
Definition of forsaken
Adjective
  • Investors and analysts are increasingly looking to other parts of the market, both to find neglected sources of value and to start assuming a defensive posture against a possible downturn.
    — Tobias Burns, CNBC, 16 July 2026
  • Changing their environment is more reliable and more neglected.
    — Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026
Definition of neglected
Adjective
  • One of the getaway’s most appealing allures is its glimpse into a forgotten era.
    — Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Caregivers remembered him not as a forgotten man, but as someone impossible to forget.
    — Jasmine Baehr, FOXNews.com, 20 May 2026
Definition of forgotten
Adjective
  • By the time viewers reach hour 15, the staff has spent an entire shift navigating a cyberattack that forces the emergency department to abandon digital systems, a nonstop influx of Fourth of July emergencies and an abandoned baby.
    — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 25 Aug. 2026
  • According to the gallery, the 25-minute film is set in a semi-abandoned hotel near Tokyo and reimagines the Greek myth of the goddess Persephone’s abduction by Hades.
    — Leigh Anne Miller, ARTnews.com, 16 June 2026
Definition of abandoned
Adjective
  • Since then, a disjointed network of state regulations and voluntary industry guidelines has sprouted in its place.
    — David Hickey, NBC news, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Snell, however, was coming off a disjointed pitching schedule because of the injury.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of disjointed
Adjective
  • When that happens, financial decisions become disconnected from long-term financial goals.
    — Aneri Jambusaria, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2026
  • But when every workload is charged to a central technology budget, cost becomes disconnected from business value.
    — Pritam Debnath, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of disconnected

Browse Nearby Words

ados
adrift
adroit
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Cite this Entry

“Adrift.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adrift. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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