Synonyms of drifters

drifters

noun

plural of drifter

as in nomads

a person who roams about without a fixed route or destination

the drifter just packed up and moved on to the next dead-end job

Synonyms & Similar Words

• nomads
• wanderers
• travelers
• birds of passage
• wayfarers
• roamers
• vagabonds
• rovers
• ramblers
• stragglers
• passengers
• strollers
• knockabouts
• maunderers
• sojourners
• hoboes
• migrants
• loiterers
• gadabouts
• laggards
• tramps
• lingerers
• sightseers
• transients
• bums
• vagrants
• amblers
• saunterers

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• residents
• inhabitants
• settlers
• dwellers
• homebodies
• denizens
• habitants

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of drifters

Jellyfish are also passive drifters, meaning that they are often unintentionally carried towards shore by powerful ocean currents. — New Atlas, 30 June 2026

In a new study, University of Miami Rosenstiel School researchers found that sensors usually attached to sharks to investigate their behavior can also allow scientists to track temperature changes in parts of the oceans often inaccessible to satellites and drifters pulled by currents. — Jenny Staletovich, Sun Sentinel, 14 June 2026

The grocery survives thanks to passing bargemen and the drifters from the outskirts who frequent the café. — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 14 May 2026

Detectives learned Lugo was the leader of a group made up of drifters and petty thieves who hung out at the Sun Gym. — Troy Roberts, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2026

The men and women under his employ were a rag-tag gang of dreamers and drifters, brought together by a love for adventure, a disdain for the society that had thrown their friends away in Vietnam, and a desire to spread the gospel of ganja. — Jack Crosbie, Rolling Stone, 17 Mar. 2026

The scene inspired future comedy gags showing drifters and tramps losing their pants to dogs chasing them. — Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 29 Jan. 2026

Meeting drifters and friendly folk along the way, Alvin is doggedly determined to make amends while facing ailments of his own. — James Mercadante, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Jan. 2026

Most of them were migrant workers, young drifters, and then some co-renters. — Jack Hargreaves, The Dial, 9 Sep. 2025