incommunicado

American  

[in-kuh-myoo-ni-kah-doh] / ˌɪn kəˌmyu nɪˈkɑ doʊ /

adjective

1. (especially of a prisoner) deprived of any communication with others.

---

incommunicado British  

/ ˌɪnkəˌmjuːnɪˈkɑːdəʊ /

adverb

1. (postpositive) deprived of communication with other people, as while in solitary confinement

---

Etymology

Origin of incommunicado

1835–45, < Spanish incomunicado. See in- ³, communicate

Explanation

Someone who's incommunicado can't communicate with other people, either because they don't want to or because they're not able to. If you spend the weekend on an island with no cell service or Internet, you'll be incommunicado for a couple of days. When someone is arrested, they're briefly incommunicado, although legally they will eventually be able to make at least one phone call. Your parents will worry about you if you're suddenly incommunicado, especially if they're used to hearing from you several times a day and reading your regular social media posts. Incommunicado was coined in the U.S., from the Spanish incomunicado, "deprived of communication."

Example Sentences

But instead of walking out of prison, his wife said, he was transferred to a high-security facility and held incommunicado.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

Subaihi is among a 50-plus STC delegation that has been incommunicado since arriving in Riyadh in the early hours of Wednesday.

From Barron's • Jan. 9, 2026

ICE held her incommunicado for 24 hours and then shuffled her through three states before jailing her in Louisiana.

From Salon • Oct. 24, 2025

The mother of another Filton demonstrator was arrested under the act and held incommunicado for five days.

From Slate • Mar. 24, 2025

Since 1963, she has remained incommunicado, and according to sources, even her family is unaware of her whereabouts.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti