Added 1 October 2026

drift

/dɹɪft/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about drift at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Movement; that which moves or is moved. Anything driven at random. A mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc., especially by wind or water.
a drift of snow, of ice, of sand, of plants, etc.
Anything driven at random.
A mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc., especially by wind or water.
a drift of snow, of ice, of sand, of plants, etc.

To move slowly, especially pushed by currents of water, air, etc.
The boat drifted away from the shore.
To move haphazardly without any destination.
He drifted from town to town, never settling down.
To deviate gently from the intended direction of travel.
This car tends to drift left at high speeds.

From Middle English drift, dryft (“act of driving, drove, shower of rain or snow, impulse”), from Old English *drift (“drift”), from Proto-Germanic *driftiz (“drift”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”). Equivalent to drive + -t; cognate with North Frisian drift (“drift”), Saterland Frisian Drift (“current, flow, stream, drift”), Dutch drift (“drift, passion, urge”), German Drift (“drift”) and Trift (“drove, pasture”), Danish drift (“impulse, instinct”), Swedish drift (“impulse, instinct”), Icelandic drift (“drift, snow-drift”).