captive

captive — noun

1. a person who has been taken and kept against their will, especially during a war

1.nounB2
Definition

a person who has been taken and kept against their will, especially during a war or conflict

Example

The soldiers freed all captives after the ceasefire took effect last Monday.

verb + captives: free / release captives

Leila's uncle was taken captive during the border conflict and held for six months.

phrase: taken captive

Common collocations
  • take captive
  • hold captive
  • release captives
  • free captives
  • captives of war
Synonyms
  • prisoner

    broader term — any person confined, whether captured or convicted of a crime

  • hostage

    a captive held to force others to meet demands; implies a bargaining purpose

  • detainee

    formal term for someone held in custody, often without formal charges

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

captive + verb (active)

verb + captive(s) (object)

Common Mistakes

The local jail holds two hundred captives.
The local jail holds two hundred prisoners.
'captive' implies a person taken by force (often in war), not a general inmate of a prison.
They kept me captive for hours in the waiting room.
They kept me waiting for hours in the waiting room.
'captive' is too strong for minor inconvenience; use only for actual confinement or serious restriction.

2. any creature kept inside a cage, pen, or other enclosed area instead of living w

2.nounB2
Definition

any creature kept inside a cage, pen, or other enclosed area instead of living wild and free

Example

The zoo's captives include two snow leopards and a family of orangutans.

pattern: 's captives — zoo / sanctuary + captives

Animal rescue groups work to move captives from tiny cages to larger natural spaces.

Common collocations
  • zoo captive
  • rescue captives
  • former captives
  • keep captives
  • captives in captivity
Synonyms
  • caged animal

    more specific — emphasizes being physically inside a cage rather than any enclosure

  • captive-bred animal

    narrower — refers only to animals born and raised in confinement

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

captive + verb (active)

verb + captive(s) (object)

Usage Note

When used of animals, 'captive' often implies the animal was born wild and later confined, whereas 'captive-born' or 'captive-bred' specifies animals born in captivity.

captive — adjective

Word family

  • captivity
    nounB2
  • captor
    nounC1
  • capture
    verbB2
  • capture
    nounB2
  • captivate
    verbC1
  • captivating
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe a person whose freedom has been taken away, but they differ in how and why. A 'captive' is someone seized by force, often in a war or armed conflict, and the word carries the idea of being taken against one's will. A 'prisoner' is a much broader term that includes anyone confined — whether a convicted criminal in jail or a soldier captured in battle. A 'hostage' is a specific type of captive: someone held so that others (family, a government, an employer) will meet certain demands. A 'detainee' is a formal or legal term for a person kept in custody, often without formal charges or a trial. In everyday use, 'prisoner' is the most common word, while 'captive' is rarer and often appears in news about war or kidnapping. For example: 'The rebels held 30 captives in the mountains.' 'The jail houses 500 prisoners.' 'The kidnappers demanded a ransom for the hostages.' 'The government released 20 detainees without filing charges.'

captive ↗prisoner ↗hostage ↗detainee

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • take someone captive
  • hold someone captive
  • keep someone captive
  • in captivity
  • live in captivity

Prepositions

  • in captivity
  • out of captivity

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'captive' comes from Latin 'captivus', meaning 'caught' or 'taken prisoner', which itself comes from 'capere' (to take or seize). It passed through Old French ('captif') before entering English in the 1300s. The original sense of being physically taken by force later expanded to include metaphorical confinement — a 'captive audience' or 'captive market' — by the mid-1900s.