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

At one point over two thirds of Sloss's entry-level workforce was composed of Black labor, which was socially and hierarchically segregated and, up until 1928, often sourced from nearby prisons. — Leslie Pariseau, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Oct. 2026

Like Francis before him, Leo has made visiting prisons a key part of his papal travel in a bid to give a message of hope to inmates and underscore their inherent dignity, that God loves them and that there is always a chance for redemption. — Nicole Winfield, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2026

Once public spectacles, executions now occur privately inside prisons, with only a handful of official witnesses and a press pool. — Patrik Jonsson, Christian Science Monitor, 10 Oct. 2026

Such treatment is in line with a January 2025 executive order directing officials to exclude transgender women from women’s prisons and detention centers. — Mark Banchereau, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026

Other cases involve Americans who prosecutors say suffered physical and psychological torture in Venezuelan prisons. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026

Congress should fully fund federal prisons so the bureau is adequately staffed and equipped to safely prepare incarcerated men and women for reentry and reduce further instances of crime. — Scott Peyton, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026

Mexico has 276 prisons, including 14 federal penitentiaries and 249 state prisons. — ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026

As cryptocurrencies code-conjure themselves into being and a performative utterance can fix the price of a stock if uttered emphatically enough, arrest data is used to forecast the stock valuation of private prisons. — Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026