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

To 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

Synonyms of incarceration

• captivity
• internment
• imprisonment
• prison
• confinement

Examples 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

Trump has also repeatedly lashed out over the state’s incarceration of Tina Peters, the former county clerk convicted of state felonies related to her attempts to prove discredited election conspiracies shared by the president. —Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 9 Jan. 2026

Boardman imposed a sentence of 97 months, citing Roske’s mental health and concerns about incarceration conditions and his status as a first-time criminal offender. —Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 8 Jan. 2026

If this becomes normalized, any citizen who lacks immediate access to paperwork and professional counsel becomes vulnerable to incarceration first and verification later. —Mike Hellgren, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026

On Wednesday, 3rd Judicial District Judge Thomas Whitney listened as both sides presented their rivaling requests for incarceration terms. —Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 8 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1540, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for incarceration

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration

Medical 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