Adrift

Part of speech: adjective, adverb

Pronunciation: /əˈdɹɪft/

Definitions

1. Floating without control or direction, either on water or in space, or in a state of being without purpose, guidance, or secure attachment
2. Drifting without anchor or propulsion across water or through space, or lacking direction and stability in circumstance or purpose
3. Moving aimlessly on currents or through emptiness, or existing in a state of disconnection from moorings, plans, or meaningful attachment

Etymology: The sea-going sense is older than the figurative one, and the word is built from two parts that each had a plain job. The prefix "a-" meant something like "in" or "on" and showed a state or condition, as in "asleep" or "ashore." The noun "drift" came from the Old English "drifan," to drive or push, and it referred to anything moved along by wind or current, including the slow movement of a ship or the mass of floating material carried by the sea. English seems to have modelled "adrift" on "afloat," a word with the same a- pattern and a similar sense of being carried on water. The adverb came first in the record, and the adjective appears to have grown out of it later, so the adjective is best understood as the adverb used in a predicative role.

Synonyms: floating, drifting, lost

Antonyms: anchored, secured