hos‧tage /ˈhɒstɪdʒ $ ˈhɑː-/
noun [countable][
Date: 1200-1300;
Language: Old French;
Origin: hoste; ⇒ host1]
1. someone who is kept as a prisoner by an enemy so that the other side will do what the enemy demands ⇒
kidnap:
The group are holding two tourists hostage (=keeping them as hostages). a family taken hostage at gunpoint2. be (a) hostage to something to be influenced and controlled by something, so that you are not free to do what you want:
Our country must not be held hostage to our past.3. a hostage to fortune something that you have promised to do that may cause you problems in the future
[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲
prisoner someone who is kept in a prison as a punishment for a crime, or while they are waiting for their
trial:
Prisoners may be locked in their cells for twenty-two hours a day. a prisoner serving a life sentence for murderconvict especially written someone who has been found guilty of a crime and sent to a prison.
Convict is used especially about someone who is sent to prison for a long time. It is more commonly used in historical descriptions, or in the phrase
an escaped convict:
The convicts were sent from England to Australia. Police were hunting for an escaped convict. Low-risk convicts help to fight forest fires and clean up public lands.inmate someone who is kept in a prison or a mental hospital:
Some inmates are allowed to have special privileges. He was described by a fellow inmate as a quiet man.captive especially literary someone who is kept somewhere and not allowed to go free, especially in a war or fighting.
Captive is a rather formal word which is used especially in literature:
Their objective was to disarm the enemy and release the captives. She was held captive (=kept as a prisoner) in the jungle for over three years.prisoner of war a soldier, member of the navy etc who is caught by the enemy during a war and kept in the enemy’s country:
My grandad was a prisoner of war in Germany. They agreed to release two Iranian prisoners of war.hostage someone who is kept somewhere as a prisoner, in order to force people to agree to do something, for example in order to get money or to achive a political aim:
Diplomats are continuing their efforts to secure the release of the hostages. The US hostages were held in Tehran for over a year.detainee/internee someone who is kept in a prison, usually because of their political views and often without a trial:
In some cases, political detainees have been beaten or mistreated. 23,531 people passed through the camps between 1944 and 1962, including 14,647 political internees. the detainees at Guantanamo Bay [TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲