Captive: Held, and Unable to Leave
A captive is someone held prisoner. As an adjective it also describes anything confined, including an audience that cannot walk out.
Captive describes something or someone held and unable to leave. It works as noun and adjective. The figurative use is the sharpest: a captive audience has not chosen to listen, it simply cannot get away.
- A prisoner (noun). *The captives were released at dawn.*
- Held in confinement (adjective). *Captive elephants live longer.*
- Unable to leave (adjective). *A captive audience on the train.*
- Controlled by a parent company. *A captive insurance company.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | captive | A captive of the raiders. |
| Adjective | captive | Captive breeding. |
| Noun | captivity | Born in captivity. |
| Verb | captivate | The story captivated her. |
| Person | captor | His captors questioned him. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The bird had been in captivity for years.Captivity is the state; captive is the individual.
- Captive breeding programmes saved the species.Conservation term.
- Passengers made a captive audience for the announcements.They cannot leave, so they must listen.
Captive and captivate
- Captive — physically held, unable to leave
- Captivate — hold someone's attention so completely they do not want to leave
- Both come from *capere*, to take, but one takes the body and the other the attention
- *Captivating* is a compliment; *captive* almost never is
From Latin *captivus*, taken prisoner, from *capere*, to seize. The same root gives capture, captor, capable and even receive — every one of them a form of taking.
Captive or prisoner?
Prisoner suggests a legal process or a jail. Captive suggests being held by force, often in war or by kidnappers.
What is a captive audience?
People who cannot leave and so must hear what is said — on an aircraft, in a waiting room, or during a compulsory session.