noun
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a person who has been shipwrecked
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something thrown off or away; castoff
adjective
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shipwrecked or put adrift
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thrown away or rejected
verb
Etymology
Origin of castaway
First recorded in 1520–30; noun, adj. use of verb phrase cast away
Explanation
A castaway is someone who's stranded on shore, often after surviving a shipwreck. A sailor who swims to a small island after a terrible storm can call herself a castaway. A castaway is more likely to be a character in a book than a real person, although occasionally a survivor has found him or herself washed up on an island. Some theories about what happened to the pilot Amelia Earhart after her disappearance include the idea that she was a castaway on some Pacific island. In the 15th century, a castaway was "one who is rejected." The deserted island survivor meaning came along in the late 1700s.
Vocabulary lists containing castaway
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Beyond the Bright Sea
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I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Seahawks were paced by a brilliant performance by quarterback Sam Darnold, a Jets castaway who rebuilt himself in Minnesota before landing in Seattle this past offseason.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026
Cleverly cast brother and sister Lupita Nyong’o and Junior Nyong’o play castaway twins Viola and Sebastian, with Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sandra Oh and Daphne Rubin-Vega among other well-known actors rounding out the cast.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 18, 2025
The two other prominent theories are that Earhart crash-landed on or near the then-Japanese Marshall Islands, or that she made it to Nikumaroro island near Kiribati and died a castaway there.
From BBC • Sep. 27, 2025
The findings, reported last week in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, show life’s tenacity, with a variety of castaway creatures treating our trash as their own Noah’s Ark. But it’s not something to celebrate.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 28, 2023
The castaway was to his mind an experienced sailor who, compass, chart and sextant in hand, knew how he found his way into trouble, if not how he would get out of it.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
