Synonyms for
Prisoners
Definition
People who are confined in a prison as punishment for a crime they have committed.
Synonyms & similar words
Synonyms by register
Antonyms
Common collocations
- prison inmates
- political prisoners
- hostages prisoners
- prisoners of war
- escape from prisoners
- release prisoners
- former prisoners
- prisoners rights
Word family
Usage note
While 'prisoner' often refers to someone convicted of a crime, it can also describe anyone held against their will, such as a hostage or prisoner of war.
Example sentences
- The prisoners escaped from jail last night.
- The warden made sure the prisoners were fed and clothed.
- The prisoners were given a chance to work on the prison farm.
- The prisoners were allowed to write letters to their families once a week.
- The prisoners were visited by a chaplain who offered them spiritual guidance.
Quotes
The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. - Fyodor Dostoevsky
It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones. - Nelson Mandela
In prison, those things withheld from and denied to the prisoner become precisely what he wants most of all. - Eldridge Cleaver