Meaning & use
marooned
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“marooned” is a form of “maroon”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Left alone in a place you cannot escape from, especially an island, after being abandoned.
Grammar: Used after a verb like be, get, or leave: They were marooned on a rock. Not used before a noun in this sense.
Patterns
- be marooned on something
- be marooned in a place
- leave someone marooned
- get marooned
After the ship sank, the sailors were marooned on a tiny island for three weeks.
The rising flood left dozens of families marooned in their homes.
He felt marooned in the empty office building when the last bus had gone.
verbtransitive
To leave someone in a place they cannot leave, usually as a punishment or by accident.
Grammar: Takes an object: maroon someone. Often used in the passive: be marooned.
Patterns
- maroon someone on something
- maroon someone in a place
- be marooned
Pirates used to maroon disobedient crew members on deserted islands.
The storm marooned us in a mountain village for two days.
Word forms
| base form | maroon |
|---|---|
| third person singular | maroons |
| past tense | marooned |
| past participle | marooned |
| -ing form | marooning |
Common combinations
- marooned on a desert island
- The film is about a man marooned on a desert island.
- marooned in the middle of nowhere
- Our car broke down and we were marooned in the middle of nowhere.
- feel marooned
- Without a phone or internet, she felt marooned.
- stranded and marooned
- The climbers were stranded and marooned by heavy snow.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stranded
- Stranded is more general: you can be stranded at an airport or bus station, while marooned suggests a longer, more isolated situation.
- abandoned
- Abandoned focuses on being left by people; marooned focuses on being unable to leave a place.
- isolated
- Isolated means far from other people, but it does not necessarily mean you cannot leave.
Opposites
Word family
- maroon verb
- The action of leaving someone trapped in a place.
Commonly confused: marooned or maroon?
marooned vs maroon
Maroon is also a dark reddish-brown color, and the verb meaning to abandon. Marooned is the adjective or past form.
Practice
The sailors were marooned ___ a small island after their boat hit rocks.
Choose one answer.
We use 'on' with islands: marooned on an island. 'In' is used for areas like a forest or a city, not a small island.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “marooned”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.