adrift

Etymology

a- + drift

adj

1. Floating at random.
   So on the sea she shall be set adrift. 1673, John Dryden, Marriage à la mode
2. (of a seaman) Absent from his watch.
3. (chiefly UK, often with of) Behind one's opponents, or below a required threshold in terms of score, number or position.
   The team were six points adrift of their rivals.
   The Czech Republic in 1994-95, with a pegged nominal exchange rate and nominal deposit rates of 7 percent, was several percentage points adrift of the interest parity condition. 1996, David H. Begg, Monetary Policy in Central and Eastern Europe: Lessons After Half a Decade, International Monetary Fund
   He did well, coming second, but Toyota and Mitsubishi were now neck-and-neck, with the Subaru team 38 points adrift of the leaders. 2006, Brian Long, Subaru Impreza: The Road Car & WRC Story, page 56
   Boro were left needing snookers after a toothless goalless draw with Dead Men Walking Doncaster left them well adrift and fading in the chase for a Championship play-off place. April 18, 2012, Anthony Vickers, “Boro 0 Doncaster Rovers 0”, in The Evening Gazette (Teeside)
   Brendan Rodgers's team moved into the top 10 in the Premier League table, but they are nine points adrift of West Ham in fourth place, while Arsenal are sixth. December 21, 2014, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 2 - 2 Arsenal”, in BBC

adv

1. In a drifting condition; at the mercy of wind and waves.
   things wore on till eight or nine o'clock, every thing getting adrift and being smashed, and every one on board jamming themselves up in corners or holding on to beams to prevent their going adrift likewise 1858, John Mullaly, The Laying of the Cable, Or the Ocean Telegraph, page 231