incarceration
noun
in·car·cer·a·tion
(ˌ)in-ˌkär-sə-ˈrā-shən 
plural incarcerations
: confinement in a jail or prison : the act of imprisoning someone or the state of being imprisoned
Despite the drop in crime in past decades, rates of arrest and incarceration in New York City have not gone down.—
Robin Steinberg
Robin SteinbergTo this day, the Supreme Court has not overruled its infamous Korematsu opinion of 1944, which validated our mass incarceration in deference to national security.—George Takei
George TakeiExamples of incarceration in a Sentence
he was bored and frustrated by his incarceration in the quarantine
sentenced to six months of incarceration for dealing in narcotics
Recent Examples on the Web
For decades, mainstream television and film have often depicted Black families as fractured, usually due to incarceration, abandonment, or tragedy.
—Okla Jones, Essence, 15 June 2025
But forcing people to move under the very real threat of incarceration is neither what many in our communities want nor what unhoused individuals need.
—Jamie Chang, Mercury News, 12 June 2025
The museum centers on the Japanese American experience in the United States and the excruciating lessons of the community’s incarceration during World War II.
—Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2025
Mass incarceration, which swept the country in the late twentieth century, rested on the assumption that a person spoiling for a fight with another person was weighing costs: that the difference between ten years and twenty-five would matter.
—Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker, 2 June 2025
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Okla Jones, Essence, 15 June 2025
But forcing people to move under the very real threat of incarceration is neither what many in our communities want nor what unhoused individuals need.
—Jamie Chang, Mercury News, 12 June 2025
The museum centers on the Japanese American experience in the United States and the excruciating lessons of the community’s incarceration during World War II.
—Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2025
Mass incarceration, which swept the country in the late twentieth century, rested on the assumption that a person spoiling for a fight with another person was weighing costs: that the difference between ten years and twenty-five would matter.
—Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for incarceration
Cite this Entry
“Incarceration.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incarceration. Accessed 26 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
incarceration
noun
in·car·cer·a·tion
in-ˌkär-sə-ˈrā-shən
1
: a confining or state of being confined
2
: abnormal retention or confinement of a body part
specifically
: a constriction of the neck of a hernial sac so that the hernial contents become irreducible
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