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Learn the meaning of captive as a noun and an adjective, with synonyms and usage examples. Find out how captive can refer to a prisoner, a person or animal kept in a space, or a customer with limited choice.
Learn the meaning of captive as an adjective and a noun, with synonyms, examples, and word history. Find out how to use captive in a sentence and see related phrases and entries.
Learn the meaning of captive as a noun and an adjective, with examples of usage and synonyms. Find out how captive can refer to a prisoner, a person or animal kept in a space, or a consumer with limited choice.
Learn the meaning of captive as an adjective or noun, and see how to use it in different contexts. Find out the origin, pronunciation, and word frequency of captive in British and American English.
Origin of captive 1. First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English or directly from Middle French, from Latin captīvus, equivalent to capt (us) “taken” (past participle of capere “to take”) + -īvus adjective suffix ( -ive)
Learn the meaning and usage of the adjective captive, which describes someone or something kept as a prisoner or in a space that you cannot get out of. See pictures, pronunciation, synonyms and collocations of captive.
A captive is something that has been captured and can’t escape, like a prisoner of war or a panda in a zoo. To be captured on the battlefield, and held captive is not so great, but captive doesn’t always describe things that are completely bad, like its synonym, hostage.
