Driftingly

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. The quality of moving in a relaxed and slow manner without a particular goal or direction
2. A way of proceeding that is casual and without urgency, often leading to wandering
3. In a way that suggests wandering slowly without a set destination or purpose

Etymology: "Driftingly" is about as plain as English word-building gets: the adjective "drifting" with the adverb-forming suffix "-ly" attached. The suffix is the old Germanic element that turns an adjective into a description of manner, so "slowly" describes doing something in a slow way, and "driftingly" describes doing something in a drifting way. The real story sits in "drifting" itself. It descends from "drift," a word whose core sense is something carried along by moving water or wind, such as snow piled up by a gust or a boat pushed off course by a current. From that physical image came the figurative sense of going where circumstances or inclination carry you, without a fixed plan or destination. The adverb inherits that picture: someone who moves driftingly is not heading anywhere in particular, just letting the current of the moment take them along.

Synonyms: unsteadily, fluidly

Antonyms: steadily