1
as in delay
an instance or period of being prevented from going about one's business
the returning vacationers' detainment at the border only lasted a few minutes
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in detention
the state of being held in lawful custody
she'll be kept in detainment until the trial if she can't post bail
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of detainment
Sandy Hook Promise works to keep schools safe Police in Northern California say a possible school shooting was prevented due to a tip line that led to the detainment of a student who shared questionable material online.
—
Mark Guarino, ABC News, 22 Sep. 2025
Lawmakers are making their decade-long detainment a priority as part of a committee investigating Chinese authority and capture.
—Nick Mordowanec, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Sep. 2025
Even though the state’s adult-use market kicked off two years ago, distribution has been like a minefield, with drivers facing detainment from Border Patrol officers.
—Benjamin Adams, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
The Carrillo Law Firm, which shared the claim with McClatchy News, and the Law Offices of Christian Contreras are challenging his detainment, arguing ICE and Border Patrol violated his civil rights.
—Julia Marnin, Sacbee.com, 29 Aug. 2025
The arrest followed Knox’s detainment by Italian police for questioning — an interrogation that lasted 53 hours over five days without legal counsel or an interpreter present and led to Knox eventually signing a confession that put her at the crime scene and implicated Lumumba.
—Alyssa Davis, People.com, 27 Aug. 2025
The View additionally came under fire from political figures in recent weeks, especially after Navarro voiced opposition to people making a tourist spectacle out of the Alligator Alcatraz detainment centers in Florida.
—EW.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Videos of arrests and detainments circulated on social media.
—Jonathan J. Cooper, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2025
Others have been subject to detainment by federal immigration forces leading sting operations in and around the nation’s capital.
—Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 21 Aug. 2025
Mark Guarino, ABC News, 22 Sep. 2025
Lawmakers are making their decade-long detainment a priority as part of a committee investigating Chinese authority and capture.
—Nick Mordowanec, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Sep. 2025
Even though the state’s adult-use market kicked off two years ago, distribution has been like a minefield, with drivers facing detainment from Border Patrol officers.
—Benjamin Adams, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
The Carrillo Law Firm, which shared the claim with McClatchy News, and the Law Offices of Christian Contreras are challenging his detainment, arguing ICE and Border Patrol violated his civil rights.
—Julia Marnin, Sacbee.com, 29 Aug. 2025
The arrest followed Knox’s detainment by Italian police for questioning — an interrogation that lasted 53 hours over five days without legal counsel or an interpreter present and led to Knox eventually signing a confession that put her at the crime scene and implicated Lumumba.
—Alyssa Davis, People.com, 27 Aug. 2025
The View additionally came under fire from political figures in recent weeks, especially after Navarro voiced opposition to people making a tourist spectacle out of the Alligator Alcatraz detainment centers in Florida.
—EW.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Videos of arrests and detainments circulated on social media.
—Jonathan J. Cooper, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2025
Others have been subject to detainment by federal immigration forces leading sting operations in and around the nation’s capital.
—Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detainment
Noun
-
The Pontifical Academies also warned that delay raises systemic risks (economic, social, and health related) echoing the investor logic that policy certainty lowers risk premia.—
Felicia Jackson,
Forbes.com,
3 Oct. 2025
-
That delay could expose Club name Boeing to sizable non-cash accounting charges.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The detention in March of Tufts doctoral candidate Rumeysa Ozturk was captured on a video that depicted a man in a hoodie stopping her on a street in Somerville, Massachusetts.—
Aaron Katersky,
ABC News,
30 Sep. 2025
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Small trailers carrying water tanks and portable toilets were brought into each compound, though some camps eventually received more adequate plumbing over the course of the detention operations.—
Miriam Pensack,
The Dial,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Toco has a 90-day wait, however, and requires an additional 1,000 miles on the odometer before your policy is activated.—
Brian Sloan,
CNBC,
3 Oct. 2025
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Streamlined layouts—redesigned, open layouts create better traffic flow, make supplies easier to find and further reduce wait times.—
Matthew Robinson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Zuazo and Hernandez each were charged with one count of first-degree felony murder and two counts of unlawful imprisonment.—
Christina Hall,
Freep.com,
3 Oct. 2025
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His aggressive defense tactics—including refusing to reveal sources and challenging judicial conduct—led to his brief imprisonment and ultimately the removal of the presiding Judge, Ural Glanville.—
Hannah Parry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Although this situation has been the hardest and darkest time in my life, good things have come out of my incarceration.—
Lauren del Valle,
CNN Money,
2 Oct. 2025
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Over the 1990s, Washington seized on that opacity to transform the base into a theater of extraterritorial mass incarceration to hold tens of thousands of Haitian and Cuban asylum-seekers fleeing political violence and economic collapse in their home countries.—
Miriam Pensack,
The Dial,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Detainment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detainment. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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