castaway

American  

[kast-uh-wey, kahst-] / ˈkæst əˌweɪ, ˈkɑst- /

noun

1. a shipwrecked person.

2. anything cast adrift or thrown away.

3. an outcast.

   Synonyms:

   leper, outlaw, pariah

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adjective

1. cast adrift.

2. thrown away.

castaway British  

/ ˈkɑːstəˌweɪ /

noun

1. a person who has been shipwrecked

2. something thrown off or away; castoff

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adjective

1. shipwrecked or put adrift

2. thrown away or rejected

verb

1. (tr, adverb; often passive) to cause (a ship, person, etc) to be shipwrecked or abandoned

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.

Example Sentences

Ulmer went on research trips, visiting what he calls “compelling” local locales like SkyBar, Castaway and Perch.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2025

At Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island in the Bahamas, we coaxed them ashore for a few hours of beach and waterslide fun before they caught wind that there was a shore-based “camp,” too.

From Washington Post • Aug. 11, 2022

Disney Cruise Line has only one ship currently active in the U.S. with Disney Dream sailing three- and four-night sailings from Port Canaveral with stops at its private Bahamas island Castaway Cay.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 24, 2021

And Castaway, a movie about Tom Hanks dutifully learning to live apart from civilization—at least until the time is right to return.

From Slate • Mar. 18, 2020

Almost the last, if not actually the last, of these, written just before the final obscuration of his faculties, was the beautiful and terrible "Castaway," an avowed allegory of his own condition.

From A History of Nineteenth Century Literature (1780-1895) by Saintsbury, George