MEANING
1. A person left adrift or stranded ashore after a shipwreck, often in an isolated place.
2. Rejected or abandoned; as a noun, a person left without support or belonging.
Use it for
describing a stranded shipwreck survivor; portraying life on an isolated shore; distinguishing a survivor from wreckageSeparates a stranded survivor from the broader idea of someone or something rejected or abandoned. Writing functions: Shipwreck survival / Abandonment.
Words that belong together
- a shipwrecked castaway
- rescue a castaway
- a castaway on an island
On the page
The castaway marked each day on a strip of driftwood.
A passing crew spotted the castaway’s signal on the beach.
The story follows a social castaway who finds shelter at the docks.
She stitched the curtain from castaway clothes.
Word forms
- Base
- castaway
Usage notes
Countable noun: castaway, castaways. Also an adjective, unchanged. Cast away is a verbal phrase, not a conjugation of this noun. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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