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

Afterward, Suzanne Agnew began serving her prison term at the Denver Women's Correctional Facility, the largest of the two women's prisons in Colorado's system. — Logan Smith, CBS News, 7 Nov. 2026

Even visiting in prisons with people who have committed terrible crimes. — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 6 Nov. 2026

The prisoners held there have been transferred to other state prisons. — Sacbee.com, 5 Nov. 2026

The measure would prohibit investments in specified industries, including fossil fuels, tobacco, weapons, and prisons. — Tatiana Sataua, Fortune, 3 Nov. 2026

There is no evidence that foreign countries intentionally emptied prisons or mental institutions and sent people to the United States. — Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 2 Nov. 2026

Final results could come as early as Thursday evening after about a half-million absentee ballots are counted from military personnel, diplomats, people in prisons and hospitals, and others. — Cara Anna, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026

Understaffing is a big problem at Tennessee's prisons, said Hatcher, who is the chairman of a legislative subcommittee looking into the prison system. — ABC News, 28 Oct. 2026

The total includes five clinics in prisons and three mobile units. — Yashaswini Singh, The Conversation, 28 Oct. 2026