IMPRISONMENT Synonyms: 37 Similar and Opposite Words

imprisonment

noun

Definition of imprisonment

as in captivity

the act of confining or the state of being confined the offense is punishable by a fine or imprisonment

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in incarceration

the state of being held in lawful custody the long years of imprisonment had taken their toll on his mind and spirit as well as his body

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of imprisonment Violations of these laws may result in criminal fines and imprisonment. — Latoya Gayle, PEOPLE, 21 Aug. 2026 The sentences are to run concurrently for a total of 10 years imprisonment. — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 21 Aug. 2026 Dozens of journalists were also gathered at the hospital, hoping to get photos or video of Khan, who has not been seen publicly since his imprisonment in 2023 in a graft case. — ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026 Habeas corpus cases are those in which people in custody challenge their detention or imprisonment in federal court. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 18 Aug. 2026 The appeal spared him imprisonment and cleared his name but did not restore his career. — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026 More than once, his white planter friends stood by him in court and kept him from unjust imprisonment and even execution. — Paul Schullery, Outdoor Life, 13 Aug. 2026 To sleuth out who the culprits are, Murashige lends on the extra-sharp deductive skills of Kanbei, who implored for death rather than imprisonment. — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 12 Aug. 2026 As part of the agreement that was previously filed in court, prosecutors dismissed the charges of tampering with evidence, unlawful imprisonment and felony homicide against Jalen Pendergrass. — Hannah McIlree, CBS News, 31 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for imprisonment

Noun

As Koschei the Deathless stirs from millennia-long captivity, powerful allies close in to reclaim the human lands.

— Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2026
For the project, focused on ending the captivity of dolphins and whales in marine parks, Panettiere was photographed in a tiny bathtub.

— Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of captivity

Noun

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

Definition of incarceration

Noun

While the boys were raised in Hiroshima, their parents and new baby brother were sent to an internment camp in Poston, Arizona, as the fighting continued.

— Rina Nakano, CBS News, 7 Aug. 2026
Established in 1855 as a military post to fight against the Mescalero Apache, the fort went on to play a minor role in the Civil War and later served as a tuberculosis sanitorium and a World War II internment camp.

— Allison Savage Bates, Denver Post, 19 July 2026

Definition of internment

Noun

Rights groups have raised concerns about the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers in Tunisia since the EU agreement, including reports of collective expulsions, racial violence, arbitrary detention and abuses against Black migrants.

— ABC News, ABC News, 22 Aug. 2026
Munsell was given 10 years for second-degree drug trafficking, five years for aggravated fleeing a stop or detention and five years for tampering with a motor vehicle, according to court records.

— Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of detention

Noun

She was released in December 2025 and has spent another eight months under house arrest or in halfway-house confinement.

— Bethy Squires, Vulture, 21 Aug. 2026
In 1842, the appellate court reduced the offense from a premeditated breach of duty to a negligent one, acquitted Ebel of founding a sect, and quashed his confinement.

— Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of confinement

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imprisoning

imprisonment

imprisonments

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“Imprisonment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imprisonment. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of imprisonment

noun

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