as in captives
one that has been taken and held in confinement
the prisoners were fed only bread and water twice a day
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Recent Examples of prisoners
Most of these prisoners had committed relatively minor offenses like petty theft, but because of prison overcrowding in Great Britain, they were transferred to Australia to do manual labor like building roads, farming, construction, etc.
—
AFAR Media, 30 May 2026
Six Hawaiian prisoners were indicted last year in the May 2024 homicide of another prisoner, with five of the men being charged with first-degree murder, the news outlet reported.
—Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 29 May 2026
According to media reports, after the fall of Assad large numbers of ISIS prisoners in Syria were relocated to stand trial in Iraq, while some of the organization’s foreign detainees were back to their countries of origin.
—Amer Matar, The Dial, 26 May 2026
None of them has the authority under current law to pursue an investigation; that resource is limited to prisoners or legislators.
—Paula Wethington, CBS News, 26 May 2026
These robots are prisoners of geometry.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 25 May 2026
After the October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel by Hamas and the kidnapping of 251 people to Gaza, Ben-Gvir took a series of inflammatory measures that worsened conditions for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
—Avi Issacharoff, The Atlantic, 22 May 2026
The memories that still haunt him are of guards beating prisoners in nearby cells.
—ABC News, 22 May 2026
In the two years after Landry took office, the number of state prisoners has increased by about 8%, and Landry’s budget indicates that number will continue to rise.
—Richard A. Webster, ProPublica, 22 May 2026
AFAR Media, 30 May 2026
Six Hawaiian prisoners were indicted last year in the May 2024 homicide of another prisoner, with five of the men being charged with first-degree murder, the news outlet reported.
—Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 29 May 2026
According to media reports, after the fall of Assad large numbers of ISIS prisoners in Syria were relocated to stand trial in Iraq, while some of the organization’s foreign detainees were back to their countries of origin.
—Amer Matar, The Dial, 26 May 2026
None of them has the authority under current law to pursue an investigation; that resource is limited to prisoners or legislators.
—Paula Wethington, CBS News, 26 May 2026
These robots are prisoners of geometry.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 25 May 2026
After the October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel by Hamas and the kidnapping of 251 people to Gaza, Ben-Gvir took a series of inflammatory measures that worsened conditions for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
—Avi Issacharoff, The Atlantic, 22 May 2026
The memories that still haunt him are of guards beating prisoners in nearby cells.
—ABC News, 22 May 2026
In the two years after Landry took office, the number of state prisoners has increased by about 8%, and Landry’s budget indicates that number will continue to rise.
—Richard A. Webster, ProPublica, 22 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prisoners
captives
Noun
-
From France’s port cities, dozens of ships sailed for Africa every year, where merchants purchased human captives to be sold in the colonies.—
Jeremy D. Popkin,
The Conversation,
28 May 2026
-
When the male guards flee, the captives emerge into a barren plain, and the girl, the last to survive, writes about her life.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
20 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Prisoners.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prisoners. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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