Did you know?
Just as English is full of nouns referring to places where prisoners are confined, from the familiar (jail and prison) to the obscure (calaboose and bridewell), so we have multiple verbs for the action of putting people behind bars. Some words can be used as both nouns and verbs, if in slightly different forms: one can be jailed in a jail, imprisoned in a prison, locked up in a lockup, or even jugged in a jug. Incarcerate does not have such a noun equivalent in English—incarceration refers to the state of confinement rather than a physical structure—but it comes ultimately from the Latin noun carcer, meaning “prison.” Incarcerate is also on the formal end of the spectrum when it comes to words related to the law and criminal justice, meaning you are more likely to read or hear about someone incarcerated in a penitentiary or detention center than in the pokey or hoosegow.
Synonyms
Examples of incarcerate in a Sentence
Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 3 July 2024
There are 52 cases in which a defendant was convicted and sentenced on charges where the obstruction count was the sole felony, and of those, 27 are currently incarcerated, according to the Justice Department.
—Scott MacFarlane, CBS News, 2 July 2024
Domingo also stars in the A24 film Sing Sing (in theaters July 12), a drama about the Rehabilitation Through the Arts theater program at New York’s Sing Sing Correctional Facility featuring formerly incarcerated alumni of the program.
—Jack Smart, Peoplemag, 2 July 2024
While incarcerated, according to CDCR officials, Gonzalez was found with a deadly weapon and convicted of a second strike.
—Hannah Poukish, Sacramento Bee, 28 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for incarcerate 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'incarcerate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near incarcerate
Cite this Entry
“Incarcerate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incarcerate. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
incarcerate
verb
Legal Definition
incarcerate
transitive verb
Latin incarceratus, past participle of incarcerare, from in- in + carcer prison
Share