drifters
People without destinations
Drifters are people who move from place to place without fixed purpose or destination.
The word carries connotations of rootlessness and lack of ambition—someone who drifts through life rather than directing it: The town attracted drifters looking for seasonal work.
In older crime narratives, drifters often appear as suspects precisely because they have no ties to the community.
Itinerant without fixed address
- trampWandering homeless person
- vagrantHomeless itinerant person
- wayfarerTraveler, especially walking
- roverDrifter or space explorer
bum · derelict · outcast · transient · homeless · panhandler · hitchhiker · boxcar
Moving without fixed purpose
- ramblingLong-winded and unfocused
- rovingMoving from place to place
- meanderingFollowing a winding course
- waywardStubbornly self-willed
aimless · restless · footloose · peripatetic · vagabond · itinerant · wanderlust · nomadic
hobo
Itinerant without fixed address
rover · bum · derelict · outcast · transient · homeless · panhandler · hitchhiker · boxcar · skid row
roaming
Moving without fixed purpose
- ramblingLong-winded and unfocused
- rovingMoving from place to place
- meanderingFollowing a winding course
wayward · aimless · restless · footloose · peripatetic · vagabond · itinerant · wanderlust · nomadic · unsettled
Bedouins
Nomadic Arab desert peoples
- TuaregSaharan Berber ethnic group
- MongolsGenghis's conquering people
- pastoralistsPeople raising grazing animals
herders · caravan · yurts · tribes · steppe · Berbers · Scythians · Romani · hunter-gatherers · clans
currents
Directional flows of movement
- tidesPeriodic sea-level changes
- flotsamDebris from wrecked vessels
- jetsamGoods deliberately discarded at sea
seaweed · debris · buoys · kelp · plankton · floating · ocean · Gulf Stream · eddies · surface
- travelerspassenger, travelers, traveler, tourist, vacationers
- outsidersoutcast, outsider, outcasts, pariah, misfit
- wandererswanderer, hikers, vagabond, wanderers, roamers
- gearheadsgearhead, gearheads, petrolhead, petrolheads, motorhead
- underclasspoor, pauper, peasant, homeless, serf
- slackersslackers, loafers, idlers, idler, layabouts
drifterssettlers
Those who establish homes
homebodies · residents · locals · natives · permanent residents
driftersstrivers
People who work hard
go-getters · achievers · careerists · planners · self-starters
drifterspillars of society
Esteemed community supporters
stakeholders · community members · family men · breadwinners · mainstays
- drifted offGradually fell asleep
- drifted apartGradually lost closeness
- The Drifters