inmate
Americannoun
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a person who is confined in a prison, hospital, etc.
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Archaic. a person who dwells with others in the same house.
noun
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a person who is confined to an institution such as a prison or hospital See also resident
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obsolete a person who lives with others in a house
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of inmate
Compare meaning
How does inmate compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
An inmate is a person who lives in a specific place, especially someone who's confined there, like a prisoner. You can call yourself an Inmate if you get sent to your room, but usually inmates are behind bars in "the big house." You can talk about a hospital inmate or the inmates at a local boarding school, but it's most common to use inmate and prisoner interchangeably. Originally, in the 16th century, an inmate was "one allowed to live in a house rented by another" — a roommate who's not on the lease, in other words. This meaning comes from in and mate, "friend or companion." By the 1830s, inmate had come to mean "one confined to an institution."
Vocabulary lists containing inmate
Al Capone Does My Shirts
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A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe
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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:
"It's this instrument of resistance… where we can really share friendship, love and our voices can be heard," Steve Happi, the former inmate who co-founded Jail Time Records, tells the BBC's Talking Movies programme.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
“The inmate Carroll impregnated is not one of the two victims in this case,” Assistant District Attorney Eric DuTemple said in an email this week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
In Naiguata, a small coastal town famous for its traditional "dancing devils" festival, Cesar Rendon, 49, a former inmate who lived in the town's halfway house, confides that he "unburdened himself" with Apostol.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
The county jail’s inmate tracker has not been updated and does not indicate if he has posted bond or been released.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
I wondered what kind of love the woman felt for the inmate.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Early last year, the Sheriff’s Department put the number of inmates with mental health needs at 46%.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
At least six inmates died from the disease.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Prisoners who present a risk to staff, other inmates or themselves because of mental disorders can be moved to psychiatric units under the Mental Health Act.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Mayor Zohran Mamdani made headlines when he watched England succumb to Argentina with inmates at the city's notorious Rikers Island jail.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
One of the inmates, Mary Nolan, a frail seventy-three-year-old woman from Jacksonville, Florida, walked with a limp.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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.
