captivity
[kap-tiv-i-tee]
- the state or period of being held, imprisoned, enslaved, or confined.
- (initial capital letter) Babylonian captivity.
Show More
Origin of captivity
Synonyms
See more synonyms for captivity on Thesaurus.com1. bondage, servitude, slavery, thralldom, subjection; imprisonment, confinement, incarceration.
Antonyms
1. freedom.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for captivity
Contemporary Examples
Shin eventually escaped North Korean captivity while in Vienna.
“There was one good thing about it,” Chuck Davis says about his time in captivity.
But the general circumstances of her capture and captivity have been known and widely reported for more than a year now.
The center had seemingly proven wrong people who contend that rescued eaglets can only survive in captivity.
She would spend her days under her husband's captivity wondering how to escape with her daughter.
Historical Examples
His own sister's child, he said, was thus held in captivity.
The Works of Whittier, Volume V (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
Content to starve, content to freeze, if only he need not be carried into captivity.
The Village Watch-Tower(AKA Kate Douglas Riggs) Kate Douglas Wiggin
Were not the chosen people themselves overthrown and led into captivity?
Micah ClarkeArthur Conan Doyle
Is it possible to do nothing to redeem these poor people, father, from captivity?
Homeward BoundJames Fenimore Cooper
At Tamvot 250 Armenians were massacred and the women carried into captivity.
captivity
- the condition of being captive; imprisonment
- the period of imprisonment
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for captivity
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper