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

"It's worth it for the banks, because they then have a captive audience, who are more likely to take other products from them."

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 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

The company has other features that make it an appealing buyout target, including robust cash-flow generation and a base of captive customers with DCC fuel storage tanks on their properties, according to Williams.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

It is necessary to write scientific papers for the benefit of other scientists doing field research in different parts of Africa or working with captive chimps.

From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

The freed captives are currently receiving medical treatment at an undisclosed hospital and will return home at a later date, army spokesman Danjuma Jonah Danjuma said in a statement issued on Friday evening.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 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

But somewhere along the line, economics was all but consumed by math, and things everybody had always known—that humans are fickle, emotional, bad at reasoning, captives of their prior mistakes, etc.—were forgotten or cast aside.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025

Despite the odds, many captives tried to free themselves, and there were a number of revolts, particularly when the vessel was anchored on the African coast.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Related Words

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