drifted

/ˈdɹɪftɪd/

//ˈdɹɪftɪd// verb

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

"drifted" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“drifted” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,896. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,896
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - simple past and past participle of drift

Corpus desk

Index EN-drifted · drifted · English

drifted · rank #16,896 · 11 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,896
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH dotted

Nearest frequency peer: dotted (-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 “drifted”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “drifted” 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).

drifted vs drifts
71% similar
drifted vs drilled
71% similar
drifted vs drifter
86% similar

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

Key facts for drifted
PropertyValue
Headworddrifted
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈdɹɪftɪd/
Letters7
Frequency rank#16,896
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “drifted”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).driftedlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “dotted” (#16,895), “Duffy” (#16,897), “dormant” (#16,894). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “drifted” is #16,896. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around drifted (IPA /ˈdɹɪftɪd/), averb. Corpus frequency is #16,896 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "simple past and past participle of drift".

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for drifted, with forms such as "ddrifted", "dirfted", and "drfited". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "drifts", "drilled", "drifter", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is drifted, spelled D-R-I-F-T-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    simple past and past participle of drift

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddrifted
  • dirfted
  • drfited
  • drifetd
  • driffted
  • driftde
  • driftedd
  • driftted
  • dritfed
  • drrifted
  • rdifted

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of drifted - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ddrifted1dirfted2drfited2drifetd2driffted1driftde2driftedd1driftted1
Edit distance from "drifted"

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 "drifted"?
"drifted" is spelled D-R-I-F-T-E-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdɹɪftɪd/.
What does "drifted" mean?
As a verb, "drifted" means: simple past and past participle of drift
What words are commonly confused with "drifted"?
"drifted" is commonly confused with "drifts", "drilled", "drifter". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "drifted"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "drifted" is /ˈdɹɪftɪd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "drifted" come from?
"drifted" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "drifted", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

dormant#16,894emulate#16,900endowed#16,902enquiry#16,903

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

diagnose11 variantsDesmond11 variantsBeatrice11 variantsIpswich11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list