1
as in jail
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody the ongoing debate whether drug users should go to prison
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in captivity
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of prison The plea deal, which dropped murder and armed criminal action charges, resulted in a two-year prison sentence — but Young could be released soon due to time already served. —
Jennifer Babich, Kansas City Star, 18 Apr. 2026 If convicted, Francis faces up to 20 years in federal prison. —Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Apr. 2026 Loughlin served two months in prison while Giannulli served five months. —Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 18 Apr. 2026 Smith wasn’t released from prison until 2016, when Thomas was 29. —Luca Evans, Denver Post, 18 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for prison
Jennifer Babich, Kansas City Star, 18 Apr. 2026 If convicted, Francis faces up to 20 years in federal prison. —Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Apr. 2026 Loughlin served two months in prison while Giannulli served five months. —Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 18 Apr. 2026 Smith wasn’t released from prison until 2016, when Thomas was 29. —Luca Evans, Denver Post, 18 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for prison
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prison
Noun
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Since then, at least 34 municipalities in Illinois have passed anti-camping ordinances with enforceable fines and jail time.— Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 19 Apr. 2026
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Ware is being held at the Clay County Detention Center while awaiting trial, and his escape resulted in an additional charge of felony prison breach and escape, jail records show.— Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 19 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Neukgu, born in captivity in 2024, is part of a breeding program to bring up the numbers of the Korean wolf, which is considered extinct in the wild.— Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 17 Apr. 2026
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Kids — and even adults — plied me with questions about what happened during those three long days of captivity.— Midsi Sanchez, PEOPLE, 15 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The government opened the federal penitentiary on Alcatraz in 1934, hoping to use the remote island to house particularly difficult prisoners, according to the National Park Service.— Justine McDaniel, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2026
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But Wood’s penitentiary is considerably sturdier.— Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Though ostracized in their time, people who resisted internment are now seen as civil-rights pioneers.— Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
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The Chinese government launched a brutal crackdown in Xinjiang starting in 2017, sweeping a million or more Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other predominantly Muslim ethnicities into prisons and internment camps.— ABC News, ABC News, 16 Apr. 2026
Noun
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There are countless cases in which federal courts found harsh and inadequate conditions of imprisonment that violate the Constitution.— Erwin Chemerinsky, Mercury News, 14 Apr. 2026
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Tarrio was notably sentenced to the longest term of imprisonment among all of the nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the attack.— Alexander Mallin, ABC News, 14 Apr. 2026
Noun
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At one point, early in his incarceration, Maduro seems to have been kept in a unit designed for solitary confinement, as is often the case for inmates of his status.— Diego Lasarte, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2026
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Facing a brutal system throughout her incarceration – compounded by her transgender identity and HIV-positive diagnosis – Dee taught herself the law from within the prison library, working to fight an unjust system for herself and others.— Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 21 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Investigations following a Russian drone strike in 2025 indicate that the NSC’s specialized confinement functions are now compromised.— Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 15 Apr. 2026
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Two years later, at age 19, Holmes and Alexander pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, receiving terms of confinement that can go no later than their 25th birthdays, court records show.— Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 14 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Prison.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/thesaurus/prison. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
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