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

Laws regarding incarceration of youthful offenders — age 25 or younger at the time of the crime — have evolved since the siblings were tried. — Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026

His father, Michael Spitze, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison in May after admitting to trying to tamper with witnesses during his son’s incarceration. — Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 20 Aug. 2026

After struggling with addiction, incarceration and trauma, the Lansing resident, who grew up on Chicago’s West Side, turned her life around and is now an author and producer and owns her own commercial cleaning company. — Myrna Petlicki, Chicago Tribune, 18 Aug. 2026

Thousands gathered at the Sacramento Buddhist Church’s 80th annual Japanese Food and Cultural Bazaar, an event started in 1947 as the community rebuilt following the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. — Sacbee.com, 15 Aug. 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