CAPTIVES Synonyms: 24 Similar and Opposite Words

captives

noun

plural of captive

as in prisoners

one that has been taken and held in confinement the captives in the concentration camp had devised a daring plan of escape

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Recent Examples of captives Local authorities did not say how the captives were rescued from the dense, expansive forest of the Kainji Lake National Park. — ABC News, 8 Aug. 2026 Mary Ishaya, 44, told the outlet that the captives often went days without food and had to bury other captives who had died. — Robert McGreevy, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026 The voyage started with 350 captives; almost all died or were kidnapped a second time by pirates. — USA Today, 4 Aug. 2026 Alice notes that the women were not allowed to bathe or even eat every day; the women were captives, treated like animals, and the men who abused them never faced any consequences. — Erin Qualey, Vulture, 27 July 2026 The captives led the horses out to graze and began to gather water and collect brush for the fires. — Literary Hub, 8 July 2026 The hijackers had threatened to execute the 106 captives if their demands were not met. — Anne Neuberger, The Atlantic, 3 July 2026 It is thought to be the only slave revolution in history where the former captives overthrew their rulers and went on to govern the country themselves. — Nick Miller, New York Times, 12 June 2026 On a day in mid-July, three men kidnapped a bus full of schoolchildren and forced their captives into an underground bunker where they were buried alive. — James Mercadante, Entertainment Weekly, 4 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for captives

prisoners

Noun

Depending on the exchange, anywhere from a dozen to more than a hundred Ukrainian prisoners get out, and board a different set of buses.

— Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
Played with unctuous authority by the multilingual Danish performer Claes Bang, Kersten claims to have used his influence to obtain the freedom of thousands of concentration camp prisoners, and is obsessed with winning a Nobel Prize.

— Alissa Simon, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of prisoners

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captive

captives

captivities

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“Captives.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/captives. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of captives

noun

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