incarcerate
Americanverb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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incarceratesimple
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incarceratessimple
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have incarceratedperfect
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has incarceratedperfect
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am incarceratingprogressive
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are incarceratingprogressive
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is incarceratingprogressive
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have been incarceratingperfect progressive
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has been incarceratingperfect progressive
Past
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incarceratedsimple
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had incarceratedperfect
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was incarceratingprogressive
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were incarceratingprogressive
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had been incarceratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of incarcerate
First recorded in 1520–30; from Medieval Latin incarcerātus, past participle of incarcerāre “to imprison,” equivalent to in- “in” + carcer “prison” + -ātus past participle suffix; see in- 2, -ate 1
Explanation
Use the verb incarcerate when you need to put someone behind bars in a big way, meaning, send them to prison, like those who, after being found guilty of a crime and sentenced, become incarcerated. The word incarcerate entered the English language in the sixteenth century, tracing back to the Latin word meaning “imprisoned.” If you incarcerate people, that means you imprison them for a predetermined amount of time in a jail, prison, or a detention center. It’s good to know the meaning of incarcerate, but make sure you never get so close to it that you have firsthand knowledge of the word.
Vocabulary lists containing incarcerate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Arleo, the federal judge in Newark, N.J., said she had no power to review or oversee the bankruptcy process or incarcerate individuals unless they are charged.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
President Bukele made the offer to incarcerate deportees and prisoners from the US at the Cecot during a recent visit to the Central American nation by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2025
States that build more prisons incarcerate more people.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2024
We can’t arrest, incarcerate and punish our way out of this complex problem.
From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2024
“I see they spared no expense to incarcerate us,” I say.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
The researchers found a prison system hostile to the needs of the people it incarcerates.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2023
Castellanos was only the eighth inmate granted compassionate release this year across a prison system that incarcerates about 95,000 people, said Mary Xjimenez, a spokeswoman for the state corrections department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2023
Moore, who is Black, noted that Maryland incarcerates young Black men at a higher rate than any other state and vowed to change that.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 25, 2022
Our prison system incarcerates two million people more than any other country on earth.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2022
The frost that imprisons the alligator in the Mississippi as effectually cuts it off from food and action as the drought which incarcerates the crocodile in the sun-burnt clay of a Ceylon tank.
From Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon by Sir James Emerson Tennent
"I am not going to have this woman sit incarcerated for the next year or two or three," he said.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
Buchanan, 72, had been incarcerated since 2004 for kidnapping a convict who was harassing a corrupt prison guard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
The justices will soon consider the case of Alishea Sophia Kingdom, a transgender woman who’s incarcerated in the federal prison system.
From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2026
“You Can See Everything” has viewers reeling from its intimate look at the Theranos founder’s pre-prison life with her family—and filmmakers’ quest to reach her after she’s incarcerated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
My work with the poor and the incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
"If you're going to ban smacking effectively, are we going to band grounding children because you're taking away the freedom? You're incarcerating children."
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
All litigation is frozen, including cases where the DOJ was investigating and litigating jurisdictions for incarcerating people in inhumane conditions, and the department is throwing out some preexisting consent decrees.
From Slate ● Jul. 5, 2025
The cost of incarcerating an unhoused person is approximately $106,000 per year — and that does not account for policing and court administration expenses.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
“Is there a willingness to concede that incarcerating someone with dementia,” she asks, “is, maybe, questionable?”
From Scientific American ● Aug. 17, 2023
The collateral consequences of incarcerating women are significant.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
