cast adrift

phrasal verb

cast adrift; casting adrift; casts adrift

1

: to cause (a boat) to float on the water without being tied to anything or controlled by anyone

—often used as (be) cast adrift

a small lifeboat was cast adrift in the open sea

2

: to cause (someone) to float on the water in a boat that is not tied to anything or controlled by anyone

—often used as (be) cast adrift

They were cast adrift in a small, leaky boat.

—often used figuratively

I was cast adrift in a sea of confusion.

Examples of cast adrift in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Without them, employees become nothing more than a row of records on Workday, cast adrift with little to moor them down to the corporate fabric. —Alexander Puutio, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024

After being cast adrift on February 9, the cargo trunk spent more than two weeks in a decaying orbit. —Samantha Lawler, Scientific American, 11 July 2024

Since being cast adrift, the Beavers and Cougars have played their cards exactly right. —Jon Wilner, Hartford Courant, 28 Jan. 2024

Indian arches and palms lend it a Jungle Book sensibility, while the sheer privacy of it—cast adrift from the rest of the world—bestows couples their island kingdom, upon which their vision of the day can unfold. —Rosalyn Wikeley, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Mar. 2023

Governments started to worry less about glory than about being cast adrift by a reluctant ally or left vulnerable by mobilizing too slowly. —Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2014

The Aztecs would be cast adrift with Oregon State, Washington State and any other Pac-12 remnants. —Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 June 2023