Synonyms of kidnapping

kidnapping 1 of 2

noun

variants also kidnaping

as in abduction

the unlawful or forcible carrying away of a person or animal

an alert system for the prompt reporting of juvenile kidnappings

Synonyms & Similar Words

• abduction
• rape
• hijacking
• snatch
• seizure
• impressment
• shanghaiing

kidnapping

2 of 2

verb

variants also kidnaping

present participle of kidnap

as in abducting

to carry away (as a person) forcibly or unlawfully

the child of the wealthy industrialist was kidnapped and held for ransom

Synonyms & Similar Words

• abducting
• capturing
• seizing
• snatching
• running off with
• making off with
• hijacking
• stealing
• crimping
• making away with
• waylaying
• impressing
• spiriting
• shanghaiing
• absconding (with)
• taking
• catching
• copping

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rescuing
• delivering
• returning
• ransoming
• restoring
• redeeming

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of kidnapping

Noun

The next year Williams was charged in the Southern District of Iowa for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution in the kidnapping case. — Breaking News, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2026

Lavery pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, kidnapping and concealment of a body in 2022 and is serving up to 32 years in prison. — Julia Coin, Charlotte Observer, 9 Oct. 2026

He was charged with first-degree kidnapping, assault causing serious injury, conspiracy to commit a felony and first-degree arson. — Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 9 Oct. 2026

The pair are then thrown back into a world of high-speed car chases, international crime and kidnapping in Spain, as their fragile relationship is tested to the core. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2026

What begins as a fairly straightforward kidnapping thriller is ratcheted by turns into something more complicated, if not exactly complex, by a neat series of twists. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 8 Oct. 2026

This time, Affleck is the wealthy man at the heart of the mistaken-identity kidnapping thriller. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2026

The 10th Circuit panel found that the two women should not have been convicted of kidnapping counts because federal law does not allow for kidnapping to be carried out by a parent. — Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 8 Oct. 2026

Trump’s draconian immigration measures have made recent deportees and asylum seekers alike easy targets for extortion, kidnapping, and occasionally recruitment by certain cartels along the US-Mexico border. — Daniel Peña, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2026

Verb

In the eighteen-seventies, after thieves began kidnapping bank managers, James Sargent invented the first commercially successful time lock. — Shayla Love, New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2026

But the North previously reacted with fury to major defections of its citizens, accusing South Korea of kidnapping them. — ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026

Another section describes the government’s response to protests in 2014, when the government says Maduro discussed kidnapping military officers suspected of disloyalty and using torture to force them to reveal information about potential plots. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is increasing the reward for an Atlanta man accused of kidnapping a driver at gunpoint on Interstate 20. — Dan Raby, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026

Jacob Fatu tried to get his family to simmer down and wait for the right moment to strike, but for him, kidnapping Sikoa was the last straw. — Ryan Gaydos Outkick, FOXNews.com, 29 Sep. 2026

Five people have been indicted for allegedly kidnapping a man at gunpoint in Hartford earlier this year and holding him ransom. — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 15 Sep. 2026

About a half-million people were reported missing last year in the United States, including those who may have left voluntarily, missing minors, kidnapping victims and others, according to the FBI’s Crime Information Center. — Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2026

The state police should be focusing on fighting real crimes and not kidnapping immigrants in order to receive federal grant dollars. — Joe Mutascio, IndyStar, 9 Sep. 2026