drifter
Person without roots
A drifter is someone who moves from place to place without a fixed home, job, or purpose—a person who drifts through life rather than putting down roots.
The term carries connotations of rootlessness and sometimes aimlessness, though it can also suggest freedom from conventional obligations.
A drifter came through town looking for odd jobs.
In fishing, a drifter is a boat that uses drift nets.
Homeless itinerant person
- hoboItinerant without fixed address
- trampWandering homeless person
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- bumIdle vagrant
down-and-out · squatter · panhandler · beggar · derelict · outcast · dispossessed · swagman
Rootless, roving person
- roamerOne who wanders
- roverDrifter or space explorer
- ramblerLeisurely rural hiker
- floaterSomething buoyant or transient
rolling stone · vagabond · wayfarer · rootless · unanchored · untethered · directionless · meandering
One choosing isolation
- outsiderOne excluded from group
- misfitOne who doesn't fit in
- solitaryExisting alone, apart
- strangerPerson not yet known
mysterious · aloof · withdrawn · detached · isolated · antisocial · unattached · disconnected
Moving for work
- farmhandAgricultural employee
- pickerOne who gathers
- journeymanQualified trade worker
- travelingMoving from place to place
migratory · temporary · undocumented · bracero · harvest · orchard · mobile · relocating
Rejects prevailing social standards
- beatnikFifties counterculture member
- hippieSixties counterculture member
- countercultureRejection of mainstream values
- dropoutOne who quits early
unconventional · artistic · alternative · rebel · searcher · seeker · idealist · communal
vagrant
Homeless itinerant person
bum · down-and-out · squatter · panhandler · beggar · derelict · outcast · dispossessed · swagman · indigent
wanderer
Rootless, roving person
floater · rolling stone · vagabond · wayfarer · rootless · unanchored · untethered · directionless · meandering · nomadic
recluse
One choosing isolation
stranger · mysterious · aloof · withdrawn · detached · isolated · antisocial · unattached · disconnected · incognito
itinerant
Moving for work
- farmhandAgricultural employee
- pickerOne who gathers
- journeymanQualified trade worker
traveling · migratory · temporary · undocumented · bracero · harvest · orchard · mobile · relocating · uprooted
nonconformist
Rejects prevailing social standards
- beatnikFifties counterculture member
- hippieSixties counterculture member
- countercultureRejection of mainstream values
dropout · unconventional · artistic · alternative · rebel · searcher · seeker · idealist · communal · back-to-the-land
gillnetter
Boat using mesh panels
vessel · boat · catch · ocean · current · floating · pelagic · offshore
fugitive
One fleeing authorities
desperado · grifter · hitchhiker · suspicious · shady · trouble · past · fleeing · hiding · alias
- Old Westcowboy, cowboys, cowgirl, sheriff, sheriffs
- wandererswanderer, hikers, vagabond, wanderers, roamers
- gearheadsgearhead, gearheads, petrolhead, petrolheads, motorhead
- Lost soulslost soul, lost sheep, wanderer, prodigal, missing person
- racersracer, race car driver, runner, driver, cyclist
- stock charactersvillain, sidekick, hero, damsel in distress, fool
driftersettler
One who colonizes territory
resident · homebody · homeowner · stay-at-home · permanent resident
driftergo-getter
Ambitious, driven person
achiever · careerist · striver · self-starter · high achiever
drifterpillar of the community
Respected local leader
community member · citizen · family man · stakeholder · neighbor
- drift offBegin sleeping gradually
- drifting offGradually entering sleep
- drift awayGradually move apart
- drift apartGradually become estranged
- drifting apartGradual loss of closeness
- get the driftUnderstand the essence
drift, drifting, adrift, drifts, drifters, driftwood, snowdrift, driftless, driftnet