drifter
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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A swaggering drifter named Hal Carter arrives in town looking for work, and by sunset he has thrown the community, especially the fragile Madge Owens, into emotional turmoil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
A drifter and petty criminal, he had spent much of his time between 2000 and 2017 in the Algarve.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2025
“A man makes his choices,” Baldwin’s crusty, guilt-ridden drifter says to his grandkid at one point.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2025
This drifter comes in and says there is nothing wrong with this Asian family, and folks should resist groupthink.
From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2024
Or it could be a drifter who had come through town and they’d buried him where he’d dropped dead.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
In “Moby-Dick,” Herman Melville describes Nantucket as an “ant hill in the sea,” an isolated outpost for whalers and drifters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
Juliette Lewis has played murderers, drifters, alcoholics, punk rockers, Reiki healers and roller-derby captains.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2025
Kristofferson turned that tale into the story of two drifters, who find love on the road and are separated, eventually, by death.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2024
In San Antonio and Butte and Cheyenne and Reliance they would meet miners, rodeo hands, slaughterhouse workers, bartenders, drifters, janitors and motel maids.
From New York Times ● Apr. 25, 2023
Mom was like a saint, friendly to everyone in the neighborhood, including the homeless, the troubled, random drifters.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
