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incarceration

incarceration

85 8.0
Being kept in prison as punishment
  • noun
  • /ɪnˌkɑːrsəˈreɪʃən/
  • Formal
translation icon : encarcelamiento
  • And mass incarceration, in my judgment, has fundamentally changed our world.
  • incarceration rates
  • arrests and incarceration
  • years of incarceration

When I was released after my five years of incarceration, I couldn't obtain a bank account.

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Examples

  • And this is mass incarceration and putting as many as a million people in prison.

  • Prisoners are considered old at 50 because of the toll incarceration takes on their health.

    Academic text (2011)
  • High rates of incarceration feed the pandemic.

  • What led to your incarceration?

  • My point is, my unfortunate incarceration was all for the best.

  • State of New York requires you to reflect upon the choices that led to your incarceration.

  • When I was released after my five years of incarceration, I couldn't obtain a bank account.

  • We studied the best data, and in fact, the impact that incarceration has on reducing the crime rate is quite marginal.

  • Incarceration hasn't worked as a deterrent.

  • The new policy aims to reduce incarceration rates by offering rehabilitation programs.

Synonyms

detention
vsincarceration
155 3.9

A situation in which someone is kept and not allowed to leave, often by police until a decision is made

refers to longer term holding in an official facility rather than temporary stays
captivity
vsincarceration
102 3.7

A state of being kept somewhere and not allowed to leave

implies legal, institutional holding rather than general forced restraint by others
imprisonment
vsincarceration
  • Formal
88 4.0

Being kept in prison as a punishment by law

has identical meaning but is the more common formal term
confinement
vsincarceration
80 5.9

A state of being kept in a small closed space and unable to move freely

focuses on being held in an official penal setting rather than any limited area
durance
vsincarceration
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A long time spent as a prisoner

is similar but does not imply especially long duration
immurement
vsincarceration
  • Archaic
1 9.9

Shutting someone inside walls so they cannot leave

refers to institutional holding generally rather than the specific act of walling someone in
durrance
vsincarceration
  • Archaic
9.9

A time when someone is kept as a prisoner and not free

is the same meaning but archaic and rarely used today

Antonyms

1.0

The right to act, speak, or think as you want without being stopped

279 1.8

An act of letting someone or something go free from being held

How Confined

life sentence
76 5.7
prison term
19 4.2
incarceration
  • Formal
85 8.0
custody
  • Specialized
370 3.9
detention
155 3.9

Surface Forms

incarceration singular

Morphology

incarceration = incarcerate (semi-transparent) = in + carcer + ation

Forming a noun from the verb 'incarcerate' with the common noun-forming suffix '-ation' is a regular and predictable derivation.

Etymology

Incarceration comes from the Latin parts in- 'in' and carcer 'prison', and it shares the same root as the verb incarcerate. So it literally means being 'put in prison', which is why it means imprisonment.