political prisoner

American  

[puh-lit-i-kuhl priz-uh-ner, priz-ner] / pəˈlɪt ɪ kəl ˈprɪz ə nər, ˈprɪz nər /

noun

• political prisoners
  plural

1. a person who is arrested or imprisoned because their political beliefs or activities are seen as a threat to the government or state.

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political prisoner British  

noun

1. someone imprisoned for holding, expressing, or acting in accord with particular political beliefs

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• political prisoners
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

political prisoner

His father, a restaurateur, spent years as a political prisoner.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

The announcement came hours after the release of Peruvian-American political prisoner Arturo Gallino Rullier, whom the Foro Penal group said was on his way to the United States.

From Barron's ● Jan. 31, 2026

Rights NGO Foro Penal said it counted 90 political prisoner releases since January 8, while interim president Delcy Rodriguez reported that 406 people have been freed since December.

From Barron's ● Jan. 17, 2026

Freddy Guevara, a member of Machado’s coalition who was a political prisoner for some three years in Venezuela, said he is still hopeful.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 2026

It normally took years for a political prisoner to raise his status from D to C. We disdained the classification system.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela