KIDNAPS Synonyms: 25 Similar and Opposite Words

kidnaps

verb

present tense third-person singular of kidnap

as in abducts

to carry away (as a person) forcibly or unlawfully the child of the wealthy industrialist was kidnapped and held for ransom

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of kidnaps Increasingly isolated and paranoid—his fears being fueled by Wolfram & Hart’s manipulations—Wes kidnaps the baby Connor, intending to take him to safety. — Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026 But the action ratchets back up as the Hand, an evil group of ninjas, kidnaps one of the mutants from the bar. — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 13 Aug. 2026 The name has Biblical undertones and refers to a theory that Adam (of Adam and Eve) had a first wife named Lilith, who committed adultery with Satan and transformed into an evil being who kidnaps children. — Katie Mather, PEOPLE, 23 July 2026 But there’s a version of Blaze’s playtime with Jessie where Smarty served as the twist villain in her spy story, and kidnaps the Tamagotchi, who was a baby in the playtime. — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 22 June 2026 Norm Green kidnaps our former hockey team to Texas, a place where ice is exclusively used to chill Lone Stars. — Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 29 May 2026 Hide and Seek follows a new string of murders featuring a dangerous stalker who kidnaps their victims before killing them, taunting them via text in the format of a popular Danish children’s counting rhyme (though the words chosen by the killer are far more violent). — Barry Levitt, Time, 7 May 2026 Vahid kidnaps the man, nicknamed Peg-Leg, in a white van, and collects a ragtag team of former detainees from across Tehran to try to certify his identity. — Cora Engelbrecht, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026 Playing Inez, a mother who kidnaps a six-year-old boy out of the foster care system and raises him as her own, showed another side of her as an actor. — Lindsey Underwood, Vanity Fair, 13 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for kidnaps

abducts

Verb

The authorities take her to the hospital, where a man pretending to be a social worker nearly drugs and abducts her.

— Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2026
As Fisk's anti-vigilante task force abducts dissidents off the street, locking them away in an undisclosed warehouse full of cages, Daredevil (Charlie Cox) becomes a symbol of rebellion for those willing to fight back.

— Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Mar. 2026

Definition of abducts

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kidnappings

kidnaps

kidney

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“Kidnaps.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kidnaps. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of kidnaps

verb

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