as in trapped
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as in tangled
to catch or hold as if in a net
parked just out of view, the state trooper was lying in wait to ensnare unwary speeders
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Recent Examples of ensnared
Judy Berman, Time, 13 Feb. 2026
He's been known in recent months for leading a series of fraud prosecutions that ensnared over 90 defendants accused of bilking Minnesota's public assistance programs.
—Joe Walsh, CBS News, 11 Feb. 2026
Former San Leandro City Councilman Bryan Azevedo pleaded guilty Wednesday to accepting a $2,000 bribe and then lying about it to federal agents — the first conviction in a sprawling East Bay political corruption scandal that has also ensnared Oakland’s former mayor.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2026
Also ensnared are high-profile Norwegian diplomat couple Terje Rod-Larsen and Mona Juul, key players in the 1990s Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
—Jill Lawless, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2026
The next morning, on March 25, 2024, Toland-Hall was shot to death after becoming ensnared in a scam gone horribly wrong.
—Faith Karimi, CNN Money, 8 Feb. 2026
Also ensnared are high-profile Norwegian diplomat couple Terje Rød-Larsen and Mona Juul, key players in the 1990s Israel-Palestinian peace efforts.
—Jill Lawless, Fortune, 7 Feb. 2026
Across 240 pages, Landfair describes how she became ensnared in Kelly’s web and how the singer kept her trapped there for more than a decade through a persistent and dizzying combination of love-bombing, control, secrecy, and abuse.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2026
More crucially, the program to replace them has for a long time become ensnared in the downward spiral of Boeing.
—Clive Irving, Vanity Fair, 30 Jan. 2026
Verb
Now pushing 40 and navigating various midlife crises, the women are ensnared in a tangle of new and old mysteries.
—Judy Berman, Time, 13 Feb. 2026
He's been known in recent months for leading a series of fraud prosecutions that ensnared over 90 defendants accused of bilking Minnesota's public assistance programs.
—Joe Walsh, CBS News, 11 Feb. 2026
Former San Leandro City Councilman Bryan Azevedo pleaded guilty Wednesday to accepting a $2,000 bribe and then lying about it to federal agents — the first conviction in a sprawling East Bay political corruption scandal that has also ensnared Oakland’s former mayor.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2026
Also ensnared are high-profile Norwegian diplomat couple Terje Rod-Larsen and Mona Juul, key players in the 1990s Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
—Jill Lawless, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2026
The next morning, on March 25, 2024, Toland-Hall was shot to death after becoming ensnared in a scam gone horribly wrong.
—Faith Karimi, CNN Money, 8 Feb. 2026
Also ensnared are high-profile Norwegian diplomat couple Terje Rød-Larsen and Mona Juul, key players in the 1990s Israel-Palestinian peace efforts.
—Jill Lawless, Fortune, 7 Feb. 2026
Across 240 pages, Landfair describes how she became ensnared in Kelly’s web and how the singer kept her trapped there for more than a decade through a persistent and dizzying combination of love-bombing, control, secrecy, and abuse.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2026
More crucially, the program to replace them has for a long time become ensnared in the downward spiral of Boeing.
—Clive Irving, Vanity Fair, 30 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ensnared
Adjective
-
Across New York City, hundreds of thousands of Black families remain trapped in unstable housing conditions.—
Darius Jones,
New York Daily News,
15 Feb. 2026
-
Thorough cleaning is important to prevent microbes and fungi from growing on trapped residue.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
The Spruce,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
They can get tangled in recycling machinery and require expensive repairs.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
15 Feb. 2026
-
The Punjab provincial government required motorbike riders to install a safety rod between their handlebars to keep kite strings stretched across roads from getting tangled around their necks — a past cause of injury and death.—
Betsy Joles,
NPR,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The bound, heavy scriptures were placed on the cot and carried off in a procession to its sleeping quarters.—
Norma Meyer,
Oc Register,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The teenage phenom who seemed bound to start at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar instead fell down the depth chart.—
Paul Tenorio,
New York Times,
2 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Annis is an enslaved woman, sold south to a Louisiana sugarcane plantation.—
The Know,
Denver Post,
8 Feb. 2026
-
In 1854, an opportunity presented itself when Anthony Burns, an enslaved man, fled from Virginia and settled in Boston — the center of abolitionist sentiment in the US and a kind of sanctuary city for runaways.—
Stephen Mihm,
Mercury News,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ensnared.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ensnared. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
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