KIDNAPPED Synonyms: 50 Similar and Opposite Words

kidnapped 1 of 2

adjective

variants also kidnaped

as in abducted

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kidnapped

2 of 2

verb

variants also kidnaped

past tense of kidnap

as in captured

to carry away (as a person) forcibly or unlawfully the child of the wealthy industrialist was kidnapped and held for ransom

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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 kidnapped

Verb

In March 1986, Mary Beth Whitehead and her husband went to a New Jersey hospital and kidnapped a baby girl. — Arthur L. Caplan, STAT, 18 Aug. 2026 Body camera video released by the Atlanta Police Department shows the moment officers found two young sisters believed to have been kidnapped from their mother over the weekend. — Dan Raby, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026 Joe was later kidnapped and it's officially been off to the races from there. — David Hookstead Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 Aug. 2026 Ledger co-founder David Balland was later kidnapped for ransom in France. — Boaz Sobrado, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026 She was last seen January 31 before she was apparently kidnapped from her home in Arizona’s Catalina Foothills — without her phone or critical medications. — Julianna Bragg, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026 And Faran Tahir will be back as Raza, leader of the Ten Rings, who kidnapped Tony Stark in 2008’s Iron Man. — ArsTechnica, 15 Aug. 2026 In 1995, France repatriated the remains of Tall’s grandson, Abdoulaye Tall, who was kidnapped during the same 1890 attack. — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 14 Aug. 2026 Emmett Till, 14, was kidnapped and lynched by White men in Money, Mississippi. — Usa Today, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for kidnapped

Adjective

Agent Mulder, hot on the trail of a group of murderers who are harvesting their victims' organs, breaks into a makeshift laboratory in an attempt to save an abducted woman.

— Brett Tingley, Space.com, 13 Aug. 2026
Beyond the official count Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA, the official tracker of abducted children, lists over 20,000 possible cases of forcible deportation and transfer of children by Russia.

— Thom Reilly, The Conversation, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of abducted

Adjective

Less commonly, children gain access to a car on their own and become trapped, or in some cases they are intentionally left.

— Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 15 Aug. 2026
Check the bathroom vanity and mattress for spaces where a cat or kitten could crawl in and become trapped.

— Ashley Lynch, Charlotte Observer, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of trapped

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kidnap

kidnapped

kidnappee

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

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Synonyms of kidnapped

adjective

verb

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