captive
Americannoun
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a prisoner.
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a person who is enslaved or dominated.
He is the captive of his own fears.
adjective
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made or held prisoner, especially in war.
captive troops.
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kept in confinement or restraint.
captive animals.
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enslaved by love, beauty, etc.; captivated.
her captive beau.
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of or relating to a captive.
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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.
noun
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a person or animal that is confined or restrained, esp a prisoner of war
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a person whose behaviour is dominated by some emotion
a captive of love
adjective
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held as prisoner
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held under restriction or control; confined
captive water held behind a dam
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captivated; enraptured
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unable by circumstances to avoid speeches, advertisements, etc (esp in the phrase captive audience )
Other Word Forms
- noncaptive adjective
- pseudocaptive adjective
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 ( -ive )
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.
Son Har-Melech explains that one of her husband's killers went on to be released in a previous exchange deal to bring home an Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza.
From BBC
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday hailed the return of all those held captive "down to the very last".
From Barron's
Netanyahu hailed the return of Gvili's body, saying: "We promised - and I promised - to bring everyone back. We brought them all back, down to the very last captive," he said.
From BBC
He said his experience of being held captive in Kuwait as Iraqi forces invaded in 1990 had "taught me the importance of resilience, responsibility, and strong leadership".
From BBC
"It's a kind of general physiology that we study for eight hours in a subject who's completely captive. It's very data rich."
From Science Daily
Definitions 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.
