inmatenoun [ C ]
uk/ˈɪn.meɪt/us/ˈɪn.meɪt/a person who is kept in a prison or a hospital for people who are mentally ill
Examples
- Women make up about 6 percent of all inmates in the U.S.
- The inmates claim they have been mistreated by the prison guards.
- Two inmates managed to escape during the riot.
- Some prison inmates have gone on hunger strike.
- The prison has had little success in rehabilitating inmates.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
People held in prison
- captive
- cellmate
- con
- convict
- detainee
- detenu
- gaolbird
- hostage
- internee
- jailbird
- lag
- lifer
- political prisoner
- pow
- prisoner
- prisoner of conscience
- prisoner of war