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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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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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.
See Examples For:
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
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
Six wasn’t only small for a Lab; he has a leaky heart valve, lowering his value and turning him into a castaway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2023
But — unless you are a castaway or a sociopath — you have to square those things with the needs of some larger group.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
Shirley followed a few steps behind her, pretending to kick a castaway can whenever the American turned to glance her way.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
They are deep enough to create a distant shore of the imagination, where readers can live as castaways from cable news, TikTok and the dull throb of the ordinary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
According to Hunter, jury members had made up their minds before the remaining three castaways even had a shot to sweeten their chances at the final tribal council.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
In some cases, people are just set off on their own to a deserted island to cosplay as castaways.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2024
This show, 46 seasons in and still going strong, returns with the host Jeff Probst and 18 castaways who are headed to Fiji to compete and survive.
From New York Times ● Feb. 26, 2024
One night, surveying the bearded, shaggy castaways around him, Shackleton ordered haircuts for all.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
