Synonyms of prisons

prisons

noun

plural of prison

1

as in jails

a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody

the ongoing debate whether drug users should go to prison

Synonyms & Similar Words

• jails
• penitentiaries
• brigs
• stockades
• lockups
• pens
• coops
• coolers
• cages
• big houses
• jugs
• dungeons
• guardrooms
• hocks
• tanks
• bastilles
• joints
• cans
• cells
• jailhouses
• nicks
• clinks
• quods
• pokeys
• slammers
• tolbooths
• bridewells
• stirs
• hoosegows
• calabooses
• wards
• slams
• holes
• hulks
• gulags
• reformatories
• holds
• guardhouses
• bull pens
• prison camps
• concentration camps
• labor camps
• glasshouses
• work camps
• keeps
• blocks
• reform schools
• oubliettes
• training schools
• stalags

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• outsides

2

as in captivities

the act of confining or the state of being confined

the view that prison does nothing to cure the criminal—if anything, it makes him worse

Synonyms & Similar Words

• captivities
• internments
• incarcerations
• imprisonments
• confinements
• impoundments
• restraints
• enslavements
• bondages
• servitudes
• restrictions
• immurements
• custodies
• arrests
• captures
• house arrests
• detentions
• entrapments
• detainments
• detainers

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• releases
• liberations
• redemptions
• liberties
• freedoms
• manumissions
• emancipations
• independences

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of prisons

Contrary to what Stephen Hawking argued, black holes are not inescapable prisons. — Quanta Magazine, 25 Sep. 2026

Instead of studying items like water supply and endangered animals, SEIU Local 1000 members include analysts who work in office buildings, janitorial staff at state hospitals and nurses stationed at prisons. — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 25 Sep. 2026

Right now, two providers run all of the state’s private youth prisons — Wayne Halfway House and Youth Opportunity Investments, a company that runs lower security facilities. — Paige Pfleger, ProPublica, 25 Sep. 2026

Authorities said key fugitives in the case include Dimitri Hérard, ex-head of security at Haiti's National Palace, who escaped two years ago after a powerful gang federation stormed Haiti's two biggest prisons. — Evens Sanon, Arkansas Online, 21 Sep. 2026

But most bonds are repaid by the state’s general fund, the main cash box that finances major programs such as education, healthcare, prisons and fighting wildfires. — Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026

Nelson reported on testimony by guards at two state prisons who said Richard Allen confessed. — Jenny Porter Tilley, IndyStar, 21 Sep. 2026