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

Burnham also faces pressure over Britain’s overcrowded prisons. — ABC News, 1 Sep. 2026

Death by medical neglect in Belarusian prisons is well documented. — Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 30 Aug. 2026

As modern prisons proliferated across the nation, major cities exported prisoners to state prisons in less populated areas. — Ella Siegrist, The Conversation, 28 Aug. 2026

While his party debates abolishing prisons and owning grocery stores, Democratic Mayor Daniel Lurie is cleaning up his city. — Kate Andrews, Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2026

If the bill, SB 1387, goes on to become law, this requirement would also apply to public entities ranging from public schools to unemployment offices to prisons. — Sharon Udasin, Sun Sentinel, 27 Aug. 2026

The Michigan House voted on Tuesday for a legislative plan aimed at safety and transparency in the state's prisons after multiple inmate deaths, Michigan House Republicans said. — Karma Sabbah, CBS News, 26 Aug. 2026

Gangs destroyed three of Haiti’s main prisons in early 2024, and those still operating are severely overcrowded. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 25 Aug. 2026

Some of the most difficult positions to fill have been state troopers, correction officers in the prisons, and nurses in psychiatric hospitals. — Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 23 Aug. 2026