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altruist inglorious captive armistice scruple

altruist

al·tru·is·m /ˈæltru-ɪzəm/ noun [uncountable]

  • when you care about or help other people, even though this brings no advantage to yourself:

    • Many choose to work in developing countries out of altruism.

  • altruist noun [countable]

inglorious

in·glo·ri·ous /ɪnˈɡlɔːriəs/ adjective literary

  • causing shame and dishonour SYN humiliating:
    • an inglorious defeat
  • ingloriously adverb

captive

  1. kept in prison or in a place that you are not allowed to leave:

    • captive soldiers
    • captive animals
    • His son had been taken captive (=became a prisoner) during the raid.
    • a pilot who was held captive (=kept as a prisoner) for six years

  2. captive audience people who listen or watch someone or something because they have to, not because they are interested

  3. captive market the people who must buy a particular product or service, because they need it and there is only one company selling it

  4. be captive to something to be unable to think or speak freely, because of being influenced too much by something:

    • Our communities should not be captive to the mistakes of the past.

armistice

ar·mi·stice /ˈɑːməstəs, ˈɑːmɪstəs $ ˈɑːrm-/ noun [countable]

an agreement to stop fighting → ceasefire, truce

scruple

scru·ple1 /ˈskruːpəl/ noun [countable usually plural, uncountable]

  • a belief about what is right and wrong that prevents you from doing bad things → qualm

    • scruples about doing something

      • He had no scruples about selling faulty goods to people.

    • a man with no moral scruples

    • without scruple

      • They made thousands of families homeless without scruple.