TRAPPED Synonyms: 96 Similar and Opposite Words

trapped 1 of 2

adjective

as in bound

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Dissimilar Words

trapped

2 of 2

verb

past tense of trap

as in tangled

to catch or hold as if in a net an ambitious young man who was now trapped in a series of shady business deals

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in grabbed

to take physical control or possession of (something) suddenly or forcibly finally trapped the annoying fly in the palm of his hand

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of trapped

Adjective

Jaemor Farms employee Lynn Lewis even has a strategy for those who start to feel trapped. — Alexa Liacko, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026 Numerous investigations have documented how patients can become trapped in a revolving door of treatment, relapse and reenrollment, with each relapse putting them at risk of overdose and death. — Ilan Shrira, The Conversation, 13 Oct. 2026 Emergency crews were trying to reach at least two people that remained trapped inside. — ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026 The driver managed to escape with one dog while another remained trapped inside, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. — Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026 Both buyers and sellers remain trapped in a wait and see stance, further dragging on a US housing market that has been stagnant for nearly four years. — CNBC, 29 Sep. 2026 These damp materials remain trapped in the folds and never fully dry, creating the perfect warm, moist environment for microbial growth. — Kamron Sanders, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Sep. 2026 For example, standard plastics, composites, sealants, and lubricants manufactured on Earth will release trapped gases and volatile compounds, and rapidly degrade in Mars' near-vacuum. — New Atlas, 26 Sep. 2026 As the Covid-19 pandemic set in, and millions of Americans became trapped in their homes with no access to mommy-and-me events, toddler classes, or respite, Accurso’s channel hit 1 million subscribers. — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2026

Verb

Russia and Ukraine are engaged in talks on ending the plight of people trapped in Oleshky, Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said in an interview with Espreso. — Samya Kullab, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026 The friction over editorial decisions, particularly around Israel, has trapped CBS in its own Middle East media war. — semafor.com, 19 Oct. 2026 Sine feels trapped by motherhood due to her demanding daughter, Ida. — Annika Pham, Variety, 19 Oct. 2026 That same evening, officers found a coyote in the area where the child was bitten, then trapped and euthanized it. — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026 When a positive voltage is applied, electrical charges move through the molecular structure, with electrons becoming trapped at specific sites within the framework. — New Atlas, 18 Oct. 2026 Neither doubling down nor walking away offers a way out of the cycle that has trapped every recent president. — Philip H. Gordon, Foreign Affairs, 12 Oct. 2026 Family members believe Jilani drowned after becoming trapped in powerful water currents. — Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026 Key indicators that your current setup is failing include noticeable air currents that can be felt from across the room, as well as condensation or moisture trapped between the glass panes. — Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 5 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for trapped

Adjective

The team checked this directly by computing how much of each galaxy's baryon budget actually stayed bound to the system.

— Paul Sutter, Space.com, 9 June 2026
To help calculate a lower bound, Erdős assumed that the points would be laid out in a grid.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 1 June 2026

Definition of bound

Verb

Besides the challenge of rebuilding the tunnel, the railroad has been tangled for several years in legal disputes with the city of Fort Bragg and the California Coastal Commission.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
But ordinary matter, which interacts using all four fundamental forces, would get all tangled up.

— Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of tangled

Adjective

Her path crosses with that of Inocência, an enslaved Black woman who possesses healing knowledge, knows the land, and devises her own strategies of resistance.

— Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
Ten Southern state legislatures endorsed the idea by passing laws that allowed the freeing of an enslaved person only when deportation out of the state was arranged and paid for.

— Karen Masterson, The Conversation, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of enslaved

Verb

Those who have been fully overtaken by the Bardo, with no hope of escape, are entrapped in giant puppet suits.

— Jane Bua, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2026
How else could that show have ended, the way people were being entrapped, and, certainly, with the dubious legality of it all?

— Damon Wise, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of entrapped

Verb

The initial patient — a Kenyan citizen — caught the deadly virus while living in Congo and died earlier this month.

— O. Rose Broderick, STAT, 15 Oct. 2026
Cooks played nearly every snap after Samuel departed and caught a touchdown on a target inside the 10-yard line.

— Dalton Del Don, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of caught

Adjective

That gave the team an additional visual reference during one of neurosurgery’s most confined operating environments.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 27 Aug. 2026
Sewers can contain numerous hazards, including noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces.

— Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 31 May 2026

Definition of confined

Verb

But the incumbent faces a tough battle because of an affordability crisis and a corruption scandal that ensnared the same justice who led the investigation into Bolsonaro.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2026
Partners cannot tell which agreements will be ensnared in the next scandal, which encourages them to hedge.

— MATIAS SPEKTOR, Foreign Affairs, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of ensnared

Browse Nearby Words

trapezists

trapped

trapper

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Style

“Trapped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trapped. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of trapped

adjective

verb

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