Synonyms of drifting

drifting 1 of 2

adjective

1

as in ranging

Related Words

• ranging
• wandering
• meandering
• rambling
• roaming
• roving
• nomadic
• ambulatory
• itinerant
• peripatetic
• vagrant
• walking
• footloose
• nomad
• wayfaring
• errant
• peregrine
• ambulant
• vagabond
• migrant
• gallivanting
• fugitive
• migratory
• perambulatory
• sauntering
• traipsing
• strolling

Dissimilar Words

• static
• stationary
• standing
• settled
• motionless
• still
• immobile
• nonmoving

2

as in hovering

Related Words

• hovering
• sailing
• hanging
• gliding
• wafting
• floating
• poised
• free-floating
• afloat
• awash
• buoyant
• floaty
• unsinkable

Dissimilar Words

• sinking
• sunk
• high and dry
• aground

drifting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of drift

1

as in flowing

to move or proceed smoothly and readily

casual conversation drifting from one topic to another

Synonyms & Similar Words

• flowing
• gliding
• cruising
• sailing
• sliding
• slipping
• rolling
• flying
• sweeping
• brushing
• racing
• coasting
• speeding
• streaming
• bowling
• rushing
• skimming
• breezing
• whisking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• struggling
• floundering
• stumbling
• trudging
• shuffling
• limping
• plodding
• lumbering
• laboring
• stamping
• stomping
• tramping
• toiling
• shambling
• stumping

2

as in floating

to rest or move along the surface of a liquid or in the air

the boat drifted along on the current

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hovering
• floating
• sailing
• swimming
• gliding
• riding
• bobbing
• wafting
• hanging
• dangling
• poising
• suspending
• buoying
• rafting
• ballooning

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• settling
• sinking
• plunging
• diving
• lunging
• dipping
• submerging
• immersing
• submersing

3

as in wandering

to move about from place to place aimlessly

spent several years drifting from town to town, picking up odd jobs whenever he needed cash

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wandering
• roaming
• floating
• cruising
• strolling
• meandering
• ranging
• roving
• knocking (about)
• rambling
• traipsing
• gallivanting
• batting
• sauntering
• ambling
• gadding (about)
• mooching
• maundering
• kicking around
• dawdling
• straying
• moping
• straggling
• tramping
• milling (about or around)
• hoboing
• vagabonding

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of drifting

Verb

Plush toys have long served as soft zero-g indicators for spaceflight missions, drifting freely to signal the instant a spacecraft enters weightlessness. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2026

Stewart complained about the chain’s merchandising and quality control, and Kmart was drifting toward financial trouble. — Fernanda Tronco, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026

Chidgasornpongse crystallizes that cosmic doom further when Grandma Saluay falls half-asleep or stares out the van window, her mind drifting into the ether. — Lé Baltar, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026

Gourmand fragrances with their edible, dessert-like notes remain everywhere, but perfumer Alberto Morillas predicts the category is drifting toward something more complex. — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026

As neural-network pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, Mark Rylance projects an almost ethereal braininess, drifting through rooms as though the rest of him were on some other plane of existence. — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 7 Oct. 2026

Expect to see plenty of holidaymakers and honeymooners hanging out by the pool or drifting in and out of the on-site spa. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026

The issue, of course, stems from the sound of rider screams from the coaster drifting into the residential area. — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026

In May, for example, astronomers suggested that a lunar-mass PBH might have been spotted drifting through the halo of our Milky Way, but follow-up work suggested the sighting was a variable star, not a black hole. — Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 2 Oct. 2026