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

feeling alone and without a direction or an aim in life

young people adrift in the big city

Without language, human beings are cast adrift.

She felt cast adrift in a vulgar, materialistic society.

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.

behind the score or position of your opponents

The team are now just six points adrift of the leaders.

LEARNit Dictionary