abducted 1 of 2

abducted

2 of 2

verb

past tense of abduct
as in captured
to carry away (as a person) forcibly or unlawfully the gangsters planned to abduct the industrialist's young daughter and demand a huge ransom from her family

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of abducted
Adjective
As with the previous hour, which opened with the Russian assassins stalking River and Sid at the bowling alley, this episode picks up at the suspense cliffhanger of these same assassins peeling off with an abducted Sid in their car. — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026 An impact campaign will accompany the film’s theatrical release, with partners including the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), Bring Kids Back UA (President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s initiative to return abducted children) and War Child International. — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2026 Bethune matched the description of the abducted man, and the car that had been intentionally set on fire matched the one driven by the suspects, deputies say. — Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2026 The gang later released six children and seven women following an intervention by community leaders and UNICEF, but dozens remain abducted. — ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026 Agent Mulder, hot on the trail of a group of murderers who are harvesting their victims' organs, breaks into a makeshift laboratory in an attempt to save an abducted woman. — Brett Tingley, Space.com, 13 Aug. 2026 Beyond the official count Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA, the official tracker of abducted children, lists over 20,000 possible cases of forcible deportation and transfer of children by Russia. — Thom Reilly, The Conversation, 6 Aug. 2026 There were toddlers among the abducted children, according to the outlet. — Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 17 May 2026 The dual timelines will continue, and the present-day Scarpetta will have a heavy new case, focusing on abducted teenage girls. — Barry Levitt, Time, 12 Mar. 2026
Verb
Just five days after his birth, officials say a woman who had befriended his mother at the hospital arrived at their home and abducted him. — Dan Raby, CBS News, 6 Nov. 2026 Kim Hyun-joo plays Ryu So-young, whose son, Sun-woo, was abducted on a school camping trip. — ABC News, 5 Nov. 2026 Rhoades, who had been convicted in 1993 of molesting his 4-year-old step-granddaughter, abducted, raped and murdered the boy. — Michael McGough, Sacbee.com, 5 Nov. 2026 Polly had been abducted at knifepoint from her home in Petaluma, north of San Francisco, during a slumber party. — Tim Stelloh, NBC news, 5 Nov. 2026 In the film, a couple’s baby boy is abducted and his frantic mother finds a way to get him back. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 4 Nov. 2026 In 2020, 1-year-old Mateo Mantufar-Barrera was abducted at gunpoint by kidnappers who jumped out of a passing vehicle near his home in Chamblee, a city about 15 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. — Graham Hurley, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2026 In response, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele sent more than 2,000 troops to Haiti to help rescue the four technicians, who the Haitian government says were abducted. — Arkansas Online, 30 Oct. 2026 Ravana does not appear, Sita is not abducted, and there is no war in Lanka. — Tamanna Nangia, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abducted
kidnapped
Verb
  • A number of people who were at the Nova Music Festival, where many Israelis were killed or kidnapped, worked on the movie and all the characters in the film are based on real people, who had their names changed.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 10 Nov. 2026
  • Several drug gangs known for attacking civilians and politicians operate in the area where Almaraz was kidnapped Saturday, including the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels.
    — Alfredo Peña, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Abducted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abducted. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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