A captive person or animal is being kept imprisoned or enclosed.
[literary]
Her heart had begun to pound inside her chest like a captive animal.
Synonyms: confined, caged, imprisoned, locked up More Synonyms of captive
A captive is someone who is captive.
He described the difficulties of surviving for four months as a captive.
2. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
A captive audience is a group of people who are not free to leave a certain place and so have to watch or listen. A captive market is a group of people who cannot choose whether or where to buy things.
We all performed dances before a captive audience of parents and patrons.
Airlines consider business travellers a captive market.
3.
See take sb captive/hold sb captive
More Synonyms of captive
captive in British English
(ˈkæptɪv)
noun
1.
a person or animal that is confined or restrained, esp a prisoner of war
2.
a person whose behaviour is dominated by some emotion
a captive of love
adjective
3.
held as prisoner
4.
held under restriction or control; confined
captive water held behind a dam
5.
captivated; enraptured
6.
unable by circumstances to avoid speeches, advertisements, etc (esp in the phrase captive audience)
Word origin
C14: from Latin captīvus, from capere to take
captive in American English
(ˈkæptɪv)
noun
1.
a person caught and held prisoner, as in war
2.
a person who is captivated, as by beauty or love
adjective
3.
a.
taken or held prisoner
b.
not able to act independently
a captive nation
c. US
obliged or forced to listen, whether wanting to or not
a captive audience
4.
captivated
5.
of captivity
Word origin
L captivus < captus, pp. of capere, to take: see have
captive in Insurance
(kæptɪv)
Word forms: (regular plural) captives
noun
(Insurance: General)
A captive is an insurance company set up by a commercial company to write the parent company's own insurances and obtain access to the reinsurance market.
Consumers who don't know that the agent is a captive, don't know that the advice on the best insurance is likely to be influenced by thefact that the owner of the firm is an insurance company.
Owning a captive is a means of arranging for self-insurance, with coverage for very large losses beingarranged by the company by means of reinsurance.
A captive is an insurance company set up by a commercial company to write the parent company'sown insurances and obtain access to the reinsurance market.
Examples of 'captive' in a sentence
captive
Both sides have taken hundreds of people captive to boost the number of prisoners available for exchanges.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It is thought to have escaped from a captive breeding programme.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It was time to find a captive audience.
The Sun (2006)
The human rearing of captive animals is frowned upon because it can cause behavioural and breedingproblems.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
She told us once to pray for all prisoners and captives.
E. Nesbit The Railway Children (1906)
China had been promoting its programme of captive breeding to signal its commitment to conservation.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Hitting on a captive audience is just creepy.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
He also had a captive audience for all his poetry recitals and stories.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The hearts of war captives were the most esteemed gifts since they were won only at great expense and risk.
Harris, Marvin Cultural Anthropology (1995)
But appealing over the heads of oppressive regimes in support of their captive populations can have a powerful catalytic effect.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Why was there no captive breeding?
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The terrified lovers try to leave, but he holds them captive.
The Sun (2009)
The captive populations of the Soviet bloc knew they were being fed lies by their official media.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
They are attacking a people, a captive nation, and an historic civilisation.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
In other languages
captive
British English: captive ADJECTIVE
A captive person or animal is being kept imprisoned or enclosed.
Her heart had begun to pound inside her chest like a captive animal.
American English: captive
Brazilian Portuguese: enclausurado
Chinese: 被囚禁的
European Spanish: cautivo
French: captif
German: gefangen
Italian: prigioniero
Japanese: 捕らわれの
Korean: 사로잡힌
European Portuguese: enclausurado
Latin American Spanish: cautivo
All related terms of 'captive'
captive-bred
bred in captivity
captive market
a group of consumers who are obliged through lack of choice to buy a particular product, thus giving the supplier a monopoly
captive audience
a group of people who are unable by circumstances to avoid speeches, advertisements , etc
captive breeding
Captive breeding is the breeding of wild animals in places such as zoos, especially animals which have become rare in the wild.
take sb captive/hold sb captive
If you take someone captive or hold someone captive , you take or keep them as a prisoner .
(adjective)
Definition
kept in confinement
Her heart had begun to pound inside her chest like a captive animal.
Synonyms
confined
caged
imprisoned
imprisoned for nonconformist preaching
locked up
enslaved
incarcerated
ensnared
subjugated
penned
restricted
Every inch counts in this restricted space.
(noun)
Definition
a person who is kept in confinement
He described the difficulties of surviving for four months as a captive.
Synonyms
prisoner
wartime hostages and concentration-camp prisoners
hostage
the man they were holding as a hostage
convict
The prison houses only lifers and convicts on death row.
prisoner of war
detainee
The detainee was held without charge.
internee
Additional synonyms
in the sense of convict
Definition
a person serving a prison sentence
The prison houses only lifers and convicts on death row.
Synonyms
prisoner,
criminal,
con (slang),
lag (slang),
villain,
felon,
jailbird,
malefactor
in the sense of detainee
The detainee was held without charge.
Synonyms
prisoner,
captive,
hostage,
internee
in the sense of hostage
Definition
a person who is illegally held prisoner until certain demands are met by other people