/əˈdrɪft/
adrift
BrE /əˈdrɪft/
NAmE /əˈdrɪft/
[not before noun]
if a boat or a person in a boat is adrift, the boat is not tied to anything or is floating without being controlled by anyone
The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days.
(of a person)
feeling alone and without a direction or an aim in life
young people adrift in the big city
no longer attached or fixed in the right position
I nearly suffocated when the pipe on my breathing apparatus came adrift.
(figurative) She had been cut adrift from everything she had known.
(figurative) Our plans had gone badly adrift.
~ (of sb/sth)
(especially BrE) (in sport)
behind the score or position of your opponents
The team are now just six points adrift of the leaders.
cast/set sb adrift
[usually passive]
to leave sb to be carried away on a boat that is not being controlled by anyone
(figurative) Without language human beings are cast adrift.