incommunicado
Americanadjective
adverb
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."
Vocabulary lists containing incommunicado
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Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
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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.
A statement from Karua's office said she had been detained at the airport, adding that she was expected to return to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Monday but "remains incommunicado".
From BBC • Jun. 22, 2026
He got an extra 3% out of Sarnoff in part by blithely insisting that he would still leave for a long-planned vacation, incommunicado, before the deal was cinched.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
Several rghts groups have denounced what they say is a form of incommunicado detention for Palestinian prisoners, hampering the legal defence of detainees.
From Barron's • Nov. 9, 2025
ICE held her incommunicado for 24 hours and then shuffled her through three states before jailing her in Louisiana.
From Salon • Oct. 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
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.
