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View synonyms for captive

captive

[ kap-tiv ]

noun

  1. a prisoner.
  2. a person who is enslaved or dominated:

    He is the captive of his own fears.



adjective

  1. made or held prisoner, especially in war:

    captive troops.

  2. kept in confinement or restraint:

    captive animals.

  3. enslaved by love, beauty, etc.; captivated:

    her captive beau.

  4. of or relating to a captive.
  5. managed as an affiliate or subsidiary of a corporation and operated almost exclusively for the use or needs of the parent corporation rather than independently for the general public:

    a captive shop;

    a captive mine.

captive

/ ˈkæptɪv /

noun

  1. a person or animal that is confined or restrained, esp a prisoner of war
  2. a person whose behaviour is dominated by some emotion

    a captive of love



adjective

  1. held as prisoner
  2. held under restriction or control; confined

    captive water held behind a dam

  3. captivated; enraptured
  4. unable by circumstances to avoid speeches, advertisements, etc (esp in the phrase captive audience )

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Other Words From

  • non·cap·tive adjective
  • pseu·do·cap·tive adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of captive1

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English or directly from Middle French, from Latin captīvus, equivalent to capt(us) “taken” (past participle of capere “to take”) + -īvus adjective suffix ( -ive )

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Word History and Origins

Origin of captive1

C14: from Latin captīvus, from capere to take

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Example Sentences

Like all great political art, it captured its era without being captive to it.

It is also home to three small packs of captive-born wolves, a handful of injured raptors, and five American river otters.

For some it’s minted millions with captive audiences realizing that they really, really hate that couch and it’s finally time to replace it.

The workers feel the tooting vibration and move to keep the other queens captive.

This metric tends to keep B2B brands captive on this professional platform for its lead generation opportunities.

Sabrine reports that the latest demands by ISIS militants are three prisoners for every captive soldier.

It was once the most glamorous hotel in town, but in 1964, hundreds of European hostages were held captive in its rooms.

Question 9: If the female captive was impregnated by her owner, can he then sell her?

Their night takes an unexpected twist when they break into a home and discover a young girl is being held captive inside.

Earlier this year, a mutual friend told me that Peter was being held captive in Syria.

The only thing that at all tended to shake this conviction, was the extraordinary poltroonery of our new captive.

The wee round wonders with their mystery of velvety colour are well fitted to take captive the young eye.

American vessels made occasional trips outside the Bay, and brought in captive sailing-vessels.

The cities of the south are shut up, and there is none to open them: all Juda is carried away captive with an entire captivity.

And he jerked his thumb towards the tower where mademoiselle was a captive, and where at night "Battista" was locked in with her.

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captivatingcaptive audience