Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🧭 Without direction 🌄 No glacial deposits
driftless

driftless

9.4
Land not covered by rocks and soil left by glaciers
  • adjective
  • /ˈdrɪftləs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : no glaciado
  • Many travelers come to explore the unique beauty of the driftless area, untouched by glaciers over millennia.

Examples

  • In the driftless zone, the land remains unaltered by glacial movements, showcasing its natural terrain.

  • For a time, I escape my morning sadness; a January hunt through the driftless region of western Wisconsin is distracting.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The driftless region in Wisconsin features stunning landscapes shaped by the absence of glacial deposits.

Synonyms

unglaciated
vsdriftless
  • Specialized
8.4

Land not covered by glaciers during an ice age

lacks the deposited materials left by ice rather than missing ice itself

Surface Forms

driftless positive

Morphology

driftless = drift (opaque) = drift + less

Although morphologically 'drift' + '-less', the meaning depends on the specialized geological sense of 'drift' (glacial deposits) which is not known to most learners.

Etymology

Driftless comes from drift, meaning 'piles of loose earth or snow left by moving ice or water', as in snowdrift, and the ending -less, meaning 'without'. So a driftless region is 'without' that loose material, which is why it often has steep hills and deep valleys.