dungeon

noun

Definition of dungeonnext
as in jail
a dark underground space in a castle used for keeping prisoners The king threw them into the dungeon.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 dungeon And, finally, new dungeons are being peppered throughout the new DLC zone to incentivize you to explore every nook and cranny. — Gabriel Zamora, PC Magazine, 26 Aug. 2026 Plumbing-the-depths-of-your-soul kind of thing, and going into the dungeon and fighting the dragon and coming back with the gold. — Devon Ivie, Vulture, 19 Aug. 2026 There’s dungeons or the headsman’s block for someone with that many secrets to spill. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026 Ahlman goes for Dungeon Crawler Carl, a book series about a man and his ex’s cat having to compete in a dungeon crawl. — Daniel Strauss, Vanity Fair, 10 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for dungeon
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dungeon
  1. jail
  2. prison
  3. cage
  4. brig
  5. tank
  6. penitentiary
  7. coop
Noun
  • The report examined publicly available FBI and immigration arrest data and does not include details about whether charges were dropped or if people served any time in jail or prison.
    — Brittney Melton, NPR, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Look, the Kansas Bill of Rights clearly says you cannot be arrested or thrown in jail because of indebtedness.
    — Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of jail
Noun
  • She was sentenced to just over 11 years in prison, and she and her former boyfriend and business partner Sunny Balwani were ordered to pay $452 million in restitution.
    — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Miranda Orozco, 50, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after admitting to arranging travel and accommodations for two people who died and another who was seriously injured.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of prison
Noun
  • Developed with Montex, the silhouettes combined an everyday piece—such as a yellow lingerie dress—with a collapsible overlayer, for example a tent-like structure in transparent lace or a cage of leather bows.
    — Tina Isaac-Goizé, Vogue, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The kitchen was open to the living/dining area, and a room with storage cages was down the hall.
    — Joyce Cohen, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of cage
Noun
  • Cruise ships have brigs – or onboard jails – where they may be held, or they could be confined to their cabins, The Points Guy reported.
    — Nathan Diller, USA Today, 15 July 2026
  • Word around baseball is all the losing has turned the Mets clubhouse, which has already been fractured these past couple years, into a joyless brig.
    — Bill Madden, New York Daily News, 2 May 2026
Definition of brig
Noun
  • Like Resident Evil, Whalefall gives its protagonist just an hour to accomplish his goal, which in this case means escaping the whale’s innards before his oxygen tank runs dry.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Three dead roaches were also spotted near the hot water tank.
    — Rashad Alexander, Kansas City Star, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of tank
Noun
  • Beyond the towering brick walls of the Tarrant County Jail, and every other county jail and state penitentiary in the country, lies an out-of-sight-out-of-mind world that most never see, let alone experience.
    — Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Mexico has 276 prisons, including 14 federal penitentiaries and 249 state prisons.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of penitentiary
Noun
  • Monster depicts Lizzie keeping a great number of doves as her dear pets, housing them in an elaborate coop out back.
    — Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Kept in coops throughout the region, the birds are routinely tested for viruses.
    — Michael Cuglietta, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of coop

Browse Nearby Words

dung
dungeon
dungeons
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dungeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dungeon. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of puissant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 23

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All