: one that drifts
especially
: one that travels or moves about aimlessly
Synonyms of drifter
Examples of drifter in a Sentence
He was a drifter who hitchhiked from state to state.
the drifter just packed up and moved on to the next dead-end job
Recent Examples on the Web
Not to mention the titular bugs, a swarm of blood-invading creatures discovered by her new lover, the mysterious drifter Peter Evans (Namir Smallwood).
—
Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Jan. 2026
Namir Smallwood stars opposite Coon as Peter, a paranoid former soldier and mysterious drifter who meets her character Agnes, a lonely waitress.
—Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 8 Jan. 2026
That’s our friend behind the counter, a drifter with an alcoholic mother, who’s a big character in the local scene.
—Francesco Pacifico, The Dial, 9 Dec. 2025
The logger and railsplitter occasionally encounters American eccentrics, like a chatty drifter prone to sporting bible verses and an old coot of a demolitions expert with a philosophical bent.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for drifter
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Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Jan. 2026
Namir Smallwood stars opposite Coon as Peter, a paranoid former soldier and mysterious drifter who meets her character Agnes, a lonely waitress.
—Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 8 Jan. 2026
That’s our friend behind the counter, a drifter with an alcoholic mother, who’s a big character in the local scene.
—Francesco Pacifico, The Dial, 9 Dec. 2025
The logger and railsplitter occasionally encounters American eccentrics, like a chatty drifter prone to sporting bible verses and an old coot of a demolitions expert with a philosophical bent.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for drifter
Cite this Entry
“Drifter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drifter. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
drifter
noun
drift·er
ˈdrif-tər 
: one that drifts
especially
: a person who travels about without purpose
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