1
a
: taken and held as or as if a prisoner of war
b(1)
: kept within bounds : confined
(2)
: of or relating to captive animals
captive breeding
2
: held under control of another but having the appearance of independence
especially
: owned or controlled by another concern and operated for its needs rather than for an open market
a captive mine
3
: being such involuntarily because of a situation that makes free choice or departure difficult
a captive audience
plural captives
1
: one who has been captured : one taken and held usually in confinement
Something there is in us that finds captivity captivating, particularly when the captives are prisoners of war.—
David Murray
David MurrayHe said that while one of the war-boats was being made ready to take the captives into the lagoon, he and his sister left the camp quietly and got away in their canoe.—Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad2
: one captivated, dominated, or controlled
a captive to love
Unlike so many experts pronouncing on that subject today, though, he has never been a captive of a particular ideology or of a well-heeled interest group.—Uwe E. Reinhardt
Uwe E. ReinhardtCrescent City residents love their culinary customs—too much, according to some critics, who complain that the city's chefs are captives of the past.—Mitch Frank
Mitch FrankSynonyms
Examples of captive in a Sentence
Adjective
The captive soldiers planned their escape.
the captive soldiers were treated humanely by the guards
Noun
the captives in the concentration camp had devised a daring plan of escape
Recent Examples on the WebDÁnica Coto and Evens Sanon, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2024
Drucker and his partner Iris Fried, a graduate student at Miami University in Ohio, checked the nets every half hour, bringing back captive birds to be examined.
—Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2024
That has only accelerated in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which killed some 1,200 people in Israel and led to about 250 being taken captive by militants.
—Zeke Miller, Fortune, 9 May 2024
Hunting and conservation groups say the CWD Genetic Improvement Act poses a risk to Oklahoma’s wild deer herds because it’s based on emerging science that has, so far, only been studied in captive deer populations.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 8 May 2024
Each one drags the viewer through endless human suffering, whether behind the gates of Auschwitz or in a Soviet work camp or even in a Paris atelier where Dior is all but forced to design gowns for the wives of the Nazi officers whose minions are holding his sister, Catherine, captive.
—TIME, 8 May 2024
Hamas releases another hostage video Hamas released a video Saturday showing two Israeli hostages who have been held captive in Gaza since October.
—Josh Feldman, NBC News, 28 Apr. 2024
Israel's operations in Rafah, a direct response to a rocket attack on IDF troops launched by Hamas from inside the city, could also prove detrimental to ongoing negotiations to free the more than 100 hostages believed to be held captive inside Gaza in exchange for an extended cease-fire.
—Shannon K. Crawford, ABC News, 9 May 2024
The 15-year-old called her mother Feb. 29 and told her she was being held captive and was going to escape, according to a 911 call obtained by McClatchy News.
—Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 7 May 2024
Matthieu Aikins Victor J. Blue Peter Ganim Krish Seenivasan Steven Szczesniak, New York Times, 22 May 2024
More people than young lovers have been known to become captives of their cellphones.
—Jeanne Phillips, The Mercury News, 17 May 2024
The first occurred at a camp for villagers from the northeast who were already displaced by Boko Haram violence: around 200 of them are now missing and feared to be captives of jihadist insurgents now.
—Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 9 Mar. 2024
Lale’s Escape In both the show and book, Lale arrives on the doorstep of Russian soldiers in Austria and becomes a captive of theirs, tasked with recruiting young women to meet the Russian men.
—Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 2 May 2024
Hamas has released a video showing footage of two captives held in Gaza, as part of an effort to prove that the two men are still alive.
—Willem Marx, NPR, 27 Apr. 2024
Our hero naturally takes this as an opportunity to ask her whether she’s been working out rather than, oh, make demands for the nonviolent release of his captives.
—Michael Nordine, Variety, 26 Apr. 2024
Battered by 175 mph wind speeds, White and his wife rode out the storm inside a hurricane shelter with 120 captive, breeding pairs of parrots, protecting them from the storm.
—David Schechter, CBS News, 18 Apr. 2024
Many of these people — colonizers, native islanders and captives from distant territories — would not have had a common language.
—Carina Del Valle Schorske, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Adjective
Many in the group, which included five children, were held captive for more than two months before escaping.
—DÁnica Coto and Evens Sanon, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2024
Drucker and his partner Iris Fried, a graduate student at Miami University in Ohio, checked the nets every half hour, bringing back captive birds to be examined.
—Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2024
That has only accelerated in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which killed some 1,200 people in Israel and led to about 250 being taken captive by militants.
—Zeke Miller, Fortune, 9 May 2024
Hunting and conservation groups say the CWD Genetic Improvement Act poses a risk to Oklahoma’s wild deer herds because it’s based on emerging science that has, so far, only been studied in captive deer populations.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 8 May 2024
Each one drags the viewer through endless human suffering, whether behind the gates of Auschwitz or in a Soviet work camp or even in a Paris atelier where Dior is all but forced to design gowns for the wives of the Nazi officers whose minions are holding his sister, Catherine, captive.
—TIME, 8 May 2024
Hamas releases another hostage video Hamas released a video Saturday showing two Israeli hostages who have been held captive in Gaza since October.
—Josh Feldman, NBC News, 28 Apr. 2024
Israel's operations in Rafah, a direct response to a rocket attack on IDF troops launched by Hamas from inside the city, could also prove detrimental to ongoing negotiations to free the more than 100 hostages believed to be held captive inside Gaza in exchange for an extended cease-fire.
—Shannon K. Crawford, ABC News, 9 May 2024
The 15-year-old called her mother Feb. 29 and told her she was being held captive and was going to escape, according to a 911 call obtained by McClatchy News.
—Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 7 May 2024
Noun
Their scholars justified killing captives and civilians as necessary and legitimate in the jihad against foreign occupation.
—Matthieu Aikins Victor J. Blue Peter Ganim Krish Seenivasan Steven Szczesniak, New York Times, 22 May 2024
More people than young lovers have been known to become captives of their cellphones.
—Jeanne Phillips, The Mercury News, 17 May 2024
The first occurred at a camp for villagers from the northeast who were already displaced by Boko Haram violence: around 200 of them are now missing and feared to be captives of jihadist insurgents now.
—Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 9 Mar. 2024
Lale’s Escape In both the show and book, Lale arrives on the doorstep of Russian soldiers in Austria and becomes a captive of theirs, tasked with recruiting young women to meet the Russian men.
—Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 2 May 2024
Hamas has released a video showing footage of two captives held in Gaza, as part of an effort to prove that the two men are still alive.
—Willem Marx, NPR, 27 Apr. 2024
Our hero naturally takes this as an opportunity to ask her whether she’s been working out rather than, oh, make demands for the nonviolent release of his captives.
—Michael Nordine, Variety, 26 Apr. 2024
Battered by 175 mph wind speeds, White and his wife rode out the storm inside a hurricane shelter with 120 captive, breeding pairs of parrots, protecting them from the storm.
—David Schechter, CBS News, 18 Apr. 2024
Many of these people — colonizers, native islanders and captives from distant territories — would not have had a common language.
—Carina Del Valle Schorske, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'captive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near captive
Cite this Entry
“Captive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/captive. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
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