Synonyms & related words for detain

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of detain — including confine, arrest, apprehend, stay, restrain, delay. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to detain

Explore words related to detain — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include detainment, imprison, detention, reimprison, incarcerate, incarcerator, imprisonable, arrestable. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for detain

Common synonyms for detain include confine, arrest, apprehend, stay, restrain, delay, impound, immure — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does detain come from?

The word detain breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root -tain, from Latin teneo (“hold”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.