waft

waft — verb

1. For a smell, smoke, sound, or a light current of air — to move smoothly through

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveC1
Definition

For a smell, smoke, sound, or a light current of air — to move smoothly through the air without force. If you waft something, you gently push or carry it through the air, often with your hand or a movement of air.

Example

The sweet smell of jasmine wafted through the open kitchen window.

waft + through + [place] for movement direction

Hana wafted the smoke from the grill away with a folded newspaper.

transitive: waft + object + away

Common collocations
  • waft through the air
  • waft across the room
  • waft into the house
  • waft up from the street
  • waft over the fence
  • waft away (smoke, steam)
Synonyms
  • drift

    More passive and directionless; can be on water or air. Drift suggests being carried by a current, while waft implies gentle movement through air only.

  • float

    Stays suspended rather than moving across a distance. A balloon floats; a scent wafts across a room.

  • glide

    Smooth, controlled movement, often with purpose. Glide implies more intention than waft, which is passive and wind-driven.

Antonyms
  • blast

    Moves with force and speed, the opposite of waft's gentleness.

Grammar Patterns

waft + adverb/preposition

waft + object + adverb/preposition

Usage Note

Often followed by a prepositional phrase indicating direction (through, across, into, up, over). The subject is typically a lightweight substance — a smell, smoke, steam, sound, or a light breeze. When used transitively, the object is something light that can be moved by a gentle push of air.

Common Mistakes

The boat wafted across the lake.
The boat drifted across the lake.
waft is only for things light enough to be carried gently through air, not heavy objects on water.
She wafted her hand to say goodbye.
She waved her hand to say goodbye.
waft means to move something through the air, not to move the hand itself as a gesture.

waft — noun

Word family

  • wafting
    adjectiveC1
  • wafted
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words describe smooth, unhurried movement, but each differs in medium, intention, and weight. Drift is the most passive — it suggests being carried by a current without control, and works for both air and water (a boat drifts, a cloud drifts). Float implies suspension in a liquid or gas without necessarily moving across a distance; something can float in place (a balloon floats, a leaf floats on water). Glide is smoother and often implies purpose or design, like a bird gliding on thermals or a skater gliding across ice. Waft is the most delicate of the four — it is used almost exclusively for lightweight things carried by air, especially smells, smoke, or faint sounds. Unlike drift, waft often carries a poetic or sensory quality. For example: 'The smoke drifted aimlessly' (neutral) vs. 'The scent of roses wafted through the garden' (delicate, evocative). Glide would sound odd here, and float would suggest stillness.

drift ↗float ↗glide

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • a waft of
  • waft in the air
  • waft on the breeze

Prepositions

Etymology

DutchEnglish

The word waft entered English in the 1500s, probably from Middle Dutch wachten ('to guard' or 'to watch over'). It originally referred to a convoy ship that escorted other vessels — a 'wafter'. By the early 1600s, the idea of 'conveying' or 'escorting' was extended to anything carried gently through the air, giving us the modern verb meaning. The noun sense of a signal flag comes from the same nautical root, where a 'waft' was a flag used for communication between ships.