# synonym help: rescuee

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synonym-help-rescuee/684515
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 25, 2014, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synonym-help-rescuee/684515 "2014-03-25T11:50:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2014, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synonym-help-rescuee/684515/1 "2014-03-25T11:50:44Z")

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I don’t think that “rescuee” is a common enough word, but that’s what I’m looking for. A word for someone who was rescued from a danger. “Survivor” would include one who escaped on his own efforts, and that’s not the idea I want to convey. What would you call the survivors of a shipwreck who were rescued by another passing boat, for example? Thanks!

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### Author: ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synonym-help-rescuee/684515/2 "2014-03-25T16:38:39Z")

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“The rescued?”

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### Author: ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synonym-help-rescuee/684515/3 "2014-03-25T16:58:44Z")

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The saved? - although that has some weird connotations

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### Author: ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synonym-help-rescuee/684515/4 "2014-03-25T20:06:21Z")

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Thanks for trying!

(I tried some on-line thesauri and they rejected the idea of “rescued” or “saved” as a noun. It’s so obviously a verb or adjective, right?)

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### Author: ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synonym-help-rescuee/684515/5 "2014-03-25T20:33:15Z")

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Castaways?

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### Author: ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synonym-help-rescuee/684515/6 "2014-03-25T20:48:17Z")

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I would seriously go with “the rescued.” Nothing wrong with making an adjective into a noun, and it’s the perfect word for it.