incarceration

noun

in·​car·​cer·​a·​tion (ˌ)in-ˌkär-sə-ˈrā-shən 

plural incarcerations

: confinement in a jail or prison : the act of imprisoning someone or the state of being imprisoned

Despite the drop in crime in past decades, rates of arrest and incarceration in New York City have not gone down.

—Robin Steinberg

To this day, the Supreme Court has not overruled its infamous Korematsu opinion of 1944, which validated our mass incarceration in deference to national security.

—George Takei

Synonyms

• captivity
• confinement
• immurement
• impoundment
• imprisonment
• internment
• prison

Examples of incarceration in a Sentence

he was bored and frustrated by his incarceration in the quarantine

sentenced to six months of incarceration for dealing in narcotics

Recent Examples on the Web

Throughout his career as district attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles, he’s championed reducing mass incarceration and alternative sentencing measures. —Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Oct. 2024

The executive order is part of a larger effort to increase reentry services, which help people transition back to communities after incarceration, during Beshear's second term. —Hannah Pinski, The Courier-Journal, 17 Oct. 2024

Chesa Boudin, a reform advocate criticized for his progressive policies on sentencing and incarceration. —Defne Karabatur, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2024

Another possible explanation for the gender gaps in Philly, Atlanta and Baltimore is mass incarceration, which has removed hundreds of thousands of men from Black neighborhoods. —Noah Bressner, Axios, 17 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1540, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

incarceration

noun

in·​car·​cer·​a·​tion in-ˌkär-sə-ˈrā-shən 

1

: a confining or state of being confined

2

: abnormal retention or confinement of a body part

specifically : a constriction of the neck of a hernial sac so that the hernial contents become irreducible