detainment

noun

Definition of detainmentnext
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

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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

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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 detainment Hernandez’s lawyer declined to comment Thursday on his detainment. — Martin Goillandeau, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026 Reporters from Noozhawk and KEYT were among those detained, and both outlets published articles detailing the detainment. — ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026 The legislation came after Lee, Deluzio and Dean conducted visits to Moshannon Valley Processing Facility earlier this year, the Northeast's largest immigration detainment facility. — Finch Walker, USA Today, 18 Aug. 2026 Xinjiang is home to many Uyghurs, a Muslim minority that the Chinese government has subjected to surveillance, forced labor and detainment in concentration camps. — Hailey Wang, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026 In June, Brittney and Cherelle opened up to PEOPLE about how Brittney’s detainment derailed their plans of starting a family. — Natasha Dye, PEOPLE, 31 July 2026 Forbes removed Prince Alwaleed from its billionaire ranks in 2018 following his monthslong detainment by the Saudi government in 2017, before he and other Saudis were included again in 2025. — Ty Roush, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026 Chicagoans blew whistles and filmed detainments while immigration agents patrolled neighborhoods with military-grade weapons as part of Operation Midway Blitz. — Alex Poppe, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2026 Deputies said Appleberry resisted arrest and later spit blood on medical personnel as he was being treated in detainment. — Sacbee.com, 8 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detainment
  1. delay
  2. detention
  3. wait
  4. imprisonment
  5. incarceration
Noun
  • Airlines around the world are currently plagued by delays in their efforts to deliver new premium offerings — including increasing passenger demand for privacy, high-tech connectivity and inflight entertainment — to meet the surge in air travel.
    — Edward Russell, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2026
  • The delay will give the city more time to consider employee parking, parking demand and other ways to get downtown.
    — Dillon Thomas, CBS News, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of delay
Noun
  • In the past, people like Calderón with pending USCIS applications or immigration court cases weren't priorities for detention.
    — Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, NPR, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Hana reported that plainclothes agents confiscated phones and electronic equipment and that Seyedabdollahi was subsequently held in solitary confinement and at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence detention facility in Isfahan.
    — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of detention
Noun
  • People working within the club have been attempting to strengthen the squad to ensure there is not another 22-year wait for their next domestic title.
    — Nnamdi Onyeagwara, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Australians, in a nation of 28 million people, face significant wait times for specialist appointments and specific diagnostic scans or elective surgeries, ranging from weeks to a year.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of wait
Noun
  • More than once, his white planter friends stood by him in court and kept him from unjust imprisonment and even execution.
    — Paul Schullery, Outdoor Life, 13 Aug. 2026
  • To sleuth out who the culprits are, Murashige lends on the extra-sharp deductive skills of Kanbei, who implored for death rather than imprisonment.
    — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of imprisonment
Noun
  • Thousands gathered at the Sacramento Buddhist Church’s 80th annual Japanese Food and Cultural Bazaar, an event started in 1947 as the community rebuilt following the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Gamiño was one of the people who stood outside the prison walls to welcome her out of incarceration.
    — Katie Mather, PEOPLE, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of incarceration

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detainment
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Cite this Entry

“Detainment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detainment. Accessed 20 Aug. 2026.

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