detainee

[dih-tey-nee, dee-tey-nee]

noun

1. a person held in custody, especially for a political offense or for questioning.

Word History and Origins

Origin of detainee¹

First recorded in 1925–30; detain + -ee

Example Sentences

There was no privacy in the cell, from other detainees or guards, she said, and some of the security cameras appeared to point toward the bathroom.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

All the remaining living Israeli hostages were released on 13 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

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Their freeing comes more than a month after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a deal to exchange French detainees for an Iranian woman held in France was nearly complete.

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Five reservists were subsequently charged with aggravated abuse and causing serious bodily harm to the detainee.

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She and her brothers are American citizens, and she now devotes much of her time advocating for the detainees' release.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• hostage 
• prisoner 
• prisoner of war 
• slave