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
Robin SteinbergTo 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
George TakeiExamples 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
Poverty is a pretext for surveillance, over-policing and incarceration.
—Rod Adams, Essence, 25 May 2025
Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Warren said Friday that the maximum sentence for wire fraud is 20 years of incarceration, a $250,000 fine and three years on supervised release.
—Ryan Oehrli, Charlotte Observer, 23 May 2025
Too often, some of the harsher realities of incarceration appear glossed over, in a space that’s sometimes awkwardly visualized as more of a group home for wayward bohemians and vagabonds.
—David Katz, IndieWire, 20 May 2025
He was sentenced to four years’ probation and ordered to complete 30 days of shock incarceration with his first year of probation.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for incarceration
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Rod Adams, Essence, 25 May 2025
Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Warren said Friday that the maximum sentence for wire fraud is 20 years of incarceration, a $250,000 fine and three years on supervised release.
—Ryan Oehrli, Charlotte Observer, 23 May 2025
Too often, some of the harsher realities of incarceration appear glossed over, in a space that’s sometimes awkwardly visualized as more of a group home for wayward bohemians and vagabonds.
—David Katz, IndieWire, 20 May 2025
He was sentenced to four years’ probation and ordered to complete 30 days of shock incarceration with his first year of probation.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for incarceration
Cite this Entry
“Incarceration.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incarceration. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical 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
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