adrift

/əˈdɹɪft/

//əˈdɹɪft// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"adrift" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“adrift” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #26,667. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#26,667
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Floating at random.

Corpus desk

Index EN-adrift · adrift · English

adrift · rank #26,667 · 9 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #26,667
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH aegis

Nearest frequency peer: aegis (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “adrift”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “adrift” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

adrift vs airlift
71% similar
adrift vs admit
67% similar
adrift vs Adrian
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for adrift
PropertyValue
Headwordadrift
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/əˈdɹɪft/
Letters6
Frequency rank#26,667
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “adrift”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).adriftlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “aegis” (#26,668), “Aiden” (#26,669), “Yiddish” (#26,664). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “adrift” is #26,667. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around adrift (IPA /əˈdɹɪft/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #26,667 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for adrift, with forms such as "addrift", "adirft", and "adrfit". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "airlift", "admit", "Adrian", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From a- + drift. The correct English form is adrift, spelled A-D-R-I-F-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Floating at random.
  2. 2
    Absent from his watch.
  3. 3
    Behind one's opponents, or below a required threshold in terms of score, number or position.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how adrift appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. So on the sea she shall be set adrift.
  2. The team were six points adrift of their rivals.

Etymology

From a- + drift.

This word in other languages

a la deriva(Español)abtreibend(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • addrift
  • adirft
  • adrfit
  • adrifft
  • adriftt
  • adritf
  • adrrift
  • ardift
  • darift

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of adrift - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

addrift1adirft2adrfit2adrifft1adriftt1adritf2adrrift1ardift2
Edit distance from "adrift"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "adrift"?
"adrift" is spelled A-D-R-I-F-T. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈdɹɪft/.
What does "adrift" mean?
As an adjective, "adrift" means: Floating at random.
What words are commonly confused with "adrift"?
"adrift" is commonly confused with "airlift", "admit", "Adrian". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "adrift"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "adrift" is /əˈdɹɪft/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "adrift"?
From a- + drift. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "adrift", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

alleys#26,672Anglia#26,680upland#26,650Armani#26,685

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Yiddish9 variantsunholy9 variantsbiceps9 variantsblanco9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list