incarceration
Americannoun
-
incarcerations
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of incarceration
First recorded in 1530–40; from French incarcération, from Latin incarcerātiōn-, stem of incarcerātiō, equivalent to incarcerāt(us), past participle of incarcerāre “to imprison” + -iō -ion ( def. ); see incarcerate ( def. )
Explanation
Incarceration is the state of being in prison. If you don't fancy incarceration, don't go through with that bank heist. The noun incarceration comes from the Latin word carcer, meaning "jail." There are many different types of incarceration. If you commit a crime and get locked up, that's one form of incarceration. Some people might feel that school is a form of incarceration. Some highly religious people think of the body as an incarceration of the spirit. A great synonym for this word is captivity.
Vocabulary lists containing incarceration
Just Mercy
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They Called Us Enemy
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Turtles All the Way Down
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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:
The documentary traces Manson to his troubled childhood and almost constant incarceration in youth facilities and jails.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
In the 1940s and 1950s, rates of black arrests and incarceration were significantly lower than today, and black incomes and years of education rose at a faster clip than among whites.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Underground church leader Jin Mingri has been released from prison in China and has travelled to the US, less than two months after his incarceration was raised directly by Donald Trump.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
The Supreme Court disagreed with Bush, declaring in a landmark decision that despite detainees’ designation as enemy combatants or incarceration at Guantánamo, they are not barred from seeking habeas.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026
We now turn to another important difference between mass incarceration and Jim Crow: the direct harm to whites caused by the current caste system.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Another option would be to allow a plea of “not guilty by reason of dementia” or to enact sentencing limits similar to those protecting juveniles from lifelong incarcerations.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 17, 2023
Kahar’s incarcerations without proper rehabilitation had made it difficult for him to walk new paths, Han said.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 29, 2022
Street’s picaresque stunts, and occasional incarcerations, do not occur in a vacuum.
From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2021
For almost a decade, the women protested the incarcerations by attending Mass at St. Rita’s Church in Havana each Sunday dressed in white.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2020
Particulars were not given, as the first two incarcerations occurred under Forster and Trevelyan.
From Ireland as It Is And as It Would be Under Home Rule by Robert John Buckley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
