solitary confinement

[sol-i-ter-ee kuhn-fahyn-muhnt]

noun

1. the confinement of a prisoner in a cell or other place in which they are completely isolated from others.

solitary confinement

noun

1. isolation imposed on a prisoner, as by confinement in a special cell

Word History and Origins

Origin of solitary confinement¹

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

County’s juvenile halls in 2018 and found probation officers were using pepper spray excessively, failing to provide proper educational and therapeutic programming and detaining youths in solitary confinement for far too long.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Many victims have told The Times that they suffered egregious abuse decades ago at the hands of probation staff, who they said would molest them and threaten them with solitary confinement if they told higher-ups.

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Ms Mdluli tried to allay the fears by saying the deportees were being held in solitary confinement in a secure facility.

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It is the birthplace of “rehabilitative” solitary confinement and for more than a century, held some of America’s most notorious criminals.

Read more on Salon

“Everyone receives soap, nobody is locked in cells all day, no one, in retaliation, is put in solitary confinement,” she said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times