as in prisoners
one that has been taken and held in confinement
the captives in the concentration camp had devised a daring plan of escape
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Recent Examples of captives
From France’s port cities, dozens of ships sailed for Africa every year, where merchants purchased human captives to be sold in the colonies.
—
Jeremy D. Popkin, The Conversation, 28 May 2026
When the male guards flee, the captives emerge into a barren plain, and the girl, the last to survive, writes about her life.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 20 May 2026
Mohamed Soliman admitted to the attack on the Pearl Street Mall in June 2025 during a demonstration in support of Israeli captives held by Hamas, throwing two Molotov cocktails at the group, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen others.
—Sarah Horbacewicz, CBS News, 8 May 2026
The story revolves around nine warriors who travel to Tsushima Island to rescue Korean captives kidnapped by Japanese pirates.
—Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 6 May 2026
One of the captives, Amanda Berry, escaped with her daughter and contacted police, who came to free Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus.
—USA Today, 6 May 2026
The captives come to believe there has been a coup, which is confirmed by the executions.
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2026
Sports franchises everywhere can be tacky, rapacious, incompetent, extortionate, and otherwise exploitative, but only because their customers, the fans, are essentially captives.
—Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 23 Apr. 2026
The ministry identified the freed captives as Russian citizen Oleg Gret and Ukrainian citizen Yuri Yurov.
—ABC News, 22 Apr. 2026
Jeremy D. Popkin, The Conversation, 28 May 2026
When the male guards flee, the captives emerge into a barren plain, and the girl, the last to survive, writes about her life.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 20 May 2026
Mohamed Soliman admitted to the attack on the Pearl Street Mall in June 2025 during a demonstration in support of Israeli captives held by Hamas, throwing two Molotov cocktails at the group, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen others.
—Sarah Horbacewicz, CBS News, 8 May 2026
The story revolves around nine warriors who travel to Tsushima Island to rescue Korean captives kidnapped by Japanese pirates.
—Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 6 May 2026
One of the captives, Amanda Berry, escaped with her daughter and contacted police, who came to free Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus.
—USA Today, 6 May 2026
The captives come to believe there has been a coup, which is confirmed by the executions.
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2026
Sports franchises everywhere can be tacky, rapacious, incompetent, extortionate, and otherwise exploitative, but only because their customers, the fans, are essentially captives.
—Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 23 Apr. 2026
The ministry identified the freed captives as Russian citizen Oleg Gret and Ukrainian citizen Yuri Yurov.
—ABC News, 22 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for captives
prisoners
Noun
-
According to media reports, after the fall of Assad large numbers of ISIS prisoners in Syria were relocated to stand trial in Iraq, while some of the organization’s foreign detainees were back to their countries of origin.—
Amer Matar,
The Dial,
26 May 2026
-
None of them has the authority under current law to pursue an investigation; that resource is limited to prisoners or legislators.—
Paula Wethington,
CBS News,
26 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Captives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/captives. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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