Taking drought-sensitive wheat cultivar Wangshuibai and drought-tolerance cultivar Luohan 7 as test materials, a hydroponic experiment was conducted to study the effects of drought stress on root system morphology, physiological characteristics and leaf photosynthesis of wheat seedlings, aimed to elucidate the adaptation mechanisms to drought stress. Under drought stress, the root vitality of the cultivars increased markedly, but the root number and root surface area decreased. Drought stress decreased relative water content and increased the ratio of bound water to free water in leaves of Wangshuibai, but had less effects on Luohan 7. Drought stress decreased, the leaf chlorophyll content, Pn g(s), Ci, and transpiration rate of the two cultivars, but had no significant effects on leaf chlorophyll content and Pn of Luohan 7. Drought stress decreased the leaf area of the two cultivars and the root biomass, shoot biomass, and plant biomass of Wangshuibai, but had no significant effects on Luohan 7. The results indicated that under drought stress, drought-tolerant wheat cultivar was able to compensate decreased root absorption area and retain higher root water uptake capability via enhancing root vitality and maintaining higher root biomass, and further, to keep higher leaf photosynthetic area and Pn to mitigate the inhibition of drought on wheat seedlings growth.