castaway

Name: castaway, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈkæs.tə.weɪ/

//ˈkæs.tə.weɪ// adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“castaway” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #46,366. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#46,366
frequency rank, English: 5,599
“C” headwords: 12
tracked misspellings: 1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Cast adrift or ashore; marooned.

Corpus desk

Index EN-castaway · castaway · English

castaway · rank #46,366 · 12 variants · 1 confusable

FREQ-MID #46,366
LEN-LONG 8 letters
VOW-4 4 vowels
CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
VAR-MID 12 variants
BOOK-DENSE 5,599
PHOTO-FINISH Catharine

Nearest frequency peer: Catharine (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Carlsen

53,640
castaway

53,635
Catharine

53,634
Cavanaugh

53,633
cenotaph

53,631
chafing

53,630

What this shows “castaway” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

castaway vs Callaway

63% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for castaway
Property	Value
Headword	castaway
Language	English
Part of speech	Adjective
IPA	/ˈkæs.tə.weɪ/
Letters	8
Frequency rank	#46,366
Misspellings tracked	12
Confusable pairs	1
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “castaway”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).castawaylands here:

#46,366

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Catharine” (#46,367), “Cavanaugh” (#46,368), “cenotaph” (#46,370). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “castaway” is #46,366. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around castaway (IPA /ˈkæs.tə.weɪ/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #46,366 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for castaway, with forms such as "acstaway", "casatway", and "casstaway". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Callaway", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Deverbal from cast away. The correct English form is castaway, spelled C-A-S-T-A-W-A-Y.

Definition

1
Cast adrift or ashore; marooned.
2
Shipwrecked.
3
Cast out; rejected or excluded from a group.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how castaway appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

After the mutiny, the castaway ship's officers suffered a month at sea in the lifeboat.
The storm left them castaway on an uninhabited island.

Etymology

Deverbal from cast away.

This word in other languages

naufragé(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

acstaway
casatway
casstaway
castaawy
castawayy
castawway
castawya
casttaway
castwaay
catsaway
ccastaway
csataway

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of castaway - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "castaway"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "castaway"?

"castaway" is spelled C-A-S-T-A-W-A-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkæs.tə.weɪ/.

What does "castaway" mean?

As an adjective, "castaway" means: Cast adrift or ashore; marooned.

What words are commonly confused with "castaway"?

"castaway" is commonly confused with "Callaway". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "castaway"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "castaway" is /ˈkæs.tə.weɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "castaway"?

Deverbal from cast away. See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "castaway", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cenotaph#46,370 caresses#46,360 Caligula#46,358 cabbages#46,356

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

collation12 variants Dagestan12 variants Atchison12 variants dismount12 variants