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
The divorced father of three said he was detained in 2013 following an incarceration for violating probation related to a drug offense.
—Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
This panel will examine mass incarceration through multiple lenses and how the criminal justice system serves as a point of crisis of public health, black wealth building, voter disenfranchisement, and family structure.
—Essence, 6 July 2025
In the decades since its passage, the 1994 law has faced wide criticism for fueling mass incarceration, disproportionately targeting Black and Latino communities and failing to address root causes of crime.
—Hannah Dreyfus, AZCentral.com, 3 July 2025
In 2023, his first year in office, felony gun cases increased 12% over his predecessor’s final year in office, while incarcerations for those charges were up nearly 121%.
—Joshua Crawford, Baltimore Sun, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for incarceration
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Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
This panel will examine mass incarceration through multiple lenses and how the criminal justice system serves as a point of crisis of public health, black wealth building, voter disenfranchisement, and family structure.
—Essence, 6 July 2025
In the decades since its passage, the 1994 law has faced wide criticism for fueling mass incarceration, disproportionately targeting Black and Latino communities and failing to address root causes of crime.
—Hannah Dreyfus, AZCentral.com, 3 July 2025
In 2023, his first year in office, felony gun cases increased 12% over his predecessor’s final year in office, while incarcerations for those charges were up nearly 121%.
—Joshua Crawford, Baltimore Sun, 2 July 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 19 Jul. 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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