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
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
The detainments would also be very temporary, would only be during the building's office hours, and no one would be detained overnight.
—Dennis Valera, CBS News, 3 June 2026
Marrero said his husband’s identification was taken during his detainment and was not returned.
—Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 6 May 2026
Anxiety is high among stadium workers, who are concerned about the threat of ICE detainment, regardless of their immigration status.
—Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
Juan and Donovan’s relationship was interrupted by his detainment early on, so their evidence wasn’t as easy.
—Elizabeth Hernandez, Denver Post, 26 Apr. 2026
Schlenker says the initial detainment has turned into a months-long legal battle overseas and there is no clear sign of returning home.
—Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 21 Apr. 2026
Among them are fears of border detainment and gun violence.
—Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 17 Apr. 2026
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
The detainments would also be very temporary, would only be during the building's office hours, and no one would be detained overnight.
—Dennis Valera, CBS News, 3 June 2026
Marrero said his husband’s identification was taken during his detainment and was not returned.
—Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 6 May 2026
Anxiety is high among stadium workers, who are concerned about the threat of ICE detainment, regardless of their immigration status.
—Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
Juan and Donovan’s relationship was interrupted by his detainment early on, so their evidence wasn’t as easy.
—Elizabeth Hernandez, Denver Post, 26 Apr. 2026
Schlenker says the initial detainment has turned into a months-long legal battle overseas and there is no clear sign of returning home.
—Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 21 Apr. 2026
Among them are fears of border detainment and gun violence.
—Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 17 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detainment
Noun
-
Caguas Mayor William Miranda Torres said that a bottleneck of pending projects is driving up costs, which in turn causes more delays.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 June 2026
-
That gap is where signal blindness, misalignment, bottlenecks, execution delays and weak learning loops quietly convert external change into our fragilities.—
Christopher Washington,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
Noun
-
Tuesday's protest came in response to the widespread detention of women and girls in Herat province in recent days by the Taliban's morality police force, for alleged violations of the group's rules on attire, which require women to cover their hair and faces.—
Ahmad Mukhtar,
CBS News,
9 June 2026
-
However, this is not a simple process, and millions of dollars’ worth of cargo can be held at a single time by CBP upon detention, disrupting the consistency of product supply and the scale of profitability.—
Paxton Honerkamp,
CNBC,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
From a clinical perspective, these shortages have real consequences — long waits, days in an emergency room waiting for a psychiatric bed to open and conditions that worsen while people fall through the cracks.—
Cathryn Nacario,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 June 2026
-
Bogen touted other enhancements promised by enhanced 911, including more efficient call connection (reducing the current four-second wait to one second).—
Rafael Olmeda,
Sun Sentinel,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
In the weeks leading up to his imprisonment, Abu Safiya fought to maintain his composure as Israeli forces surrounded the hospital, releasing grainy video dispatches from the facility under siege.—
Julia Frankel,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2026
-
During the earlier dictatorship, Kim survived imprisonment and at least one attempt to kill him.—
Arthur I. Cyr,
Chicago Tribune,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
Judge Nicole Hopps last month increased his minimum term of incarceration to 60 years after granting his request to correct the erroneous sentence.—
Tom Olsen,
Twin Cities,
8 June 2026
-
After the podcast fans brought the case to the attention of Odessa, Texas, police chief Michael Gerke (the podcast listener’s father), Reyos was exonerated in 2023 and awarded $80,000 per year of his incarceration by the state of Texas, amounting to almost $2 million.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
8 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Detainment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detainment. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
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