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

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

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

When he is stymied, as tends to happen, he seeks the advice of his captive, a sharper man than any of the small-minded, superstitious figures on his council.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Perhaps the only thing that can be said with certainty about Kevin Warsh’s press conference following his first meeting as Federal Reserve chair this week is that he will have a captive audience.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 14, 2026

She had gone once with her parents to hear Grace Bumbry sing Aida and had been fascinated with the tragic story of the beautiful princess who had been a captive in ancient Egypt.

From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

The captives are from around Ngoshe, a mainly Muslim community near the border with Cameroon.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026

One sculpture transforms the European hero Robin Hood into an African bandit queen who raided slave traders and freed their captives.

From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026

After the start of the truce on October 10, Hamas returned the 20 surviving hostages still in its custody and began the process of returning the bodies of the dead captives.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2025

This is most obvious in the Middle East, with the agonizing ordeal of the surviving Israeli captives coming to a dramatic end this week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025

Without pausing in their work, they glanced up as Cockerell and Flatnose passed with their three captives.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

Related Words

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