captive

American  

[kap-tiv] / ˈkæp tɪv /

noun

• captives
  plural

1. a prisoner.

2. a person who is enslaved or dominated.

   He is the captive of his own fears.

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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 British  

/ 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

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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 )

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncaptive
  adjective
• pseudocaptive
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• captives
  plural

Etymology

Origin of captive

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 ( see -ive)

Explanation

A captive is something that has been captured and can’t escape, like a prisoner of war or a panda in a zoo. To be captured on the battlefield, and held captive is not so great, but captive doesn’t always describe things that are completely bad, like its synonym, hostage. If you fall in love you might say your heart is being held captive. Ideas that entrance you could be called captivating. Sometimes endangered animals are brought into captivity in order to breed larger populations, and then released into the wild.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

captive captives

As for the passengers, it’s hard to turn down fine wine when you’re captive, bored and often in vacation mode.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Many are what researchers call "captive pedestrians" - people who walk not by choice but because they cannot afford another option.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

The second note was apologetic, saying that she had died while captive and was "buried in nature now."

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

They said they view the situation as an example of captive market exploitation and economic coercion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Then they were captured by two more shadows and held captive beside Glory.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Investigators showed former captives Naumenko’s photo, which they recognized.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

“It’s using earthquake data to interpret North Korean nuclear tests,” said Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of a nonprofit called Global Reach that focuses on American captives abroad and is working with Chen’s family.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Because the country had far less captives, they paid Karamanli $60,000, worth roughly $1.7 million today, but the yearly duties did stop, so there’s that.

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026

On Sunday morning, the military released videos and photos of the freed captives as they sat under trees overnight.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026

When day began to dawn above the hills Farid went to the two captives, gave them water, a little of the dry bread they still had left, and a few olives.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

Related Words

• detainee
• hostage
• prisoner
• prisoner of war
• slave