prisoner
Americannoun
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prisoners
plural
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a person who is confined in prison or kept in custody, especially as the result of legal process.
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a person or thing that is deprived of liberty or kept in restraint.
noun
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a person deprived of liberty and kept in prison or some other form of custody as a punishment for a crime, while awaiting trial, or for some other reason
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a person confined by any of various restraints
we are all prisoners of time
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informal to be uncompromising and resolute in one's actions
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to capture and hold someone as a prisoner, esp as a prisoner of war
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of prisoner
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How does prisoner compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A prisoner is a person being held in prison as a punishment. During wartime a prisoner is someone held captive by the enemy. Alternately, if you’re so attractive you can’t leave the house, you’re a prisoner of your own good looks. Someone who's caught robbing a bank or stealing a car will probably become a prisoner, locked inside a prison for as long as the sentence specifies. If you feel stuck or confined in some way, you may consider yourself a metaphorical prisoner, like an actor who whines that he’s a prisoner of his own success, since he’s not able to go anywhere without cameras flashing and fans screaming.
Vocabulary lists containing prisoner
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He was released in a major prisoner swap in August 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
In 2023, US journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on espionage charges, later sentenced to 16 years in prison before being released in a 2024 prisoner swap.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
One woman, who supports an affected prisoner, said that contingency measures should have been put in place immediately.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
The Daily Express leads with coverage of the early prisoner release scheme, saying domestic abuse campaigners "slam" the policy.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
“Only if you tell me why,” the prisoner replied.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Karpenko was well-known for posting video interviews with Russian prisoners of war to his YouTube channel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The Sheriff’s Department typically houses mentally ill prisoners at the Twin Towers, but Magaña’s family claims he was not transferred to a specialized unit within the jail that deals with more challenging cases.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026
The woman said prisoners had been give two-litre bottles of water after initially being handed flavoured water.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Weaving together material adapted from several ancient Greek sources, Ferdia Lennon’s novel is a tragicomic reimagining of the experience of Athenian prisoners captured during the disastrous Sicilian Expedition of 415-13 B.C.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
In exchange, Le Duc Tho agreed to a cease-fire and the return of American prisoners of war.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
