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

In August, the Michigan House passed a legislative plan aimed at safety and transparency in the state's prisons following multiple inmate deaths. — Nicholas Lentz, CBS News, 6 Sep. 2026

Look beyond the police, and the whole criminal justice system – prisons, the courts and probation service – is poorly run, and often in crisis. — The Week Uk, TheWeek, 5 Sep. 2026

Human rights groups have criticized plans to deport migrants to centers or prisons in third countries, arguing that European nations cannot guarantee their rights will be respected there. — Claudia Ciobanu, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026

In New York prisons and jails, the use of medications for opioid use disorder increased seven times over between 2022 and 2025. — Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 3 Sep. 2026

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

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