castaway
castaway Lexical Profile
castaway Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person who has been shipwrecked and stranded in an isolated place, such as an uninhabited island.
"After surviving for weeks on coconuts and rainwater, the castaway was finally spotted by a passing merchant vessel."
A person or thing that has been rejected, abandoned, or cast out by society.
"The shelter provides warm meals and medical care to social castaways who have nowhere else to turn."
• adjective
Stranded or adrift in an isolated place, especially as the result of a shipwreck.
"The rescue helicopter spotted the castaway sailors waving frantic signals from the rocky atoll."
Thrown aside, rejected, or discarded as no longer useful or wanted.
"The community theater built its entire stage set using castaway furniture and donated fabrics."
Word Nuance & Usage
As a single word, 'castaway' is a noun or attributive adjective, whereas the two-word phrase 'cast away' functions as a phrasal verb or predicative participle (e.g., 'a castaway sailor' vs. 'the sailors were cast away').
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in the 16th century as a compound of the past participle 'cast' (from Old Norse 'kasta', meaning to throw) and 'away' (from Old English 'on weg'). It originally carried the theological sense of a person rejected by God before shifting primarily to shipwrecked mariners in the 18th century.