abdriften

German

Etymology

From ab- +‎ driften.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈapˌdʁɪftn̩]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: ab‧drif‧ten

Verb

abdriften (weak, third-person singular present driftet ab, past tense driftete ab, past participle abgedriftet, auxiliary sein)

  1. (intransitive) to drift off course
  2. (figurative) to lapse, to fall into, to get caught up in a state or environment framed as negative [with in (+ accusative)]
    In den letzten Jahren driftete die Mannschaft in die Bedeutungslosigkeit ab.
    Over the last years, the team fell into irrelevance.
    Nachdem er seinen Job verloren hat, ist er in die Kriminalität abgedriftet.
    After losing his job, he got caught up in crime.
  3. (figurative, intransitive, colloquial) to go off course, to go off-topic (of a discussion)
  4. (figurative, intransitive, colloquial) to fall into fringe beliefs or behaviors

Conjugation

Further reading

  • abdriften” in Duden online
  • abdriften” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache