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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
Elizabeth Both, NBC News, 23 Dec. 2024
Still, four decades after his conviction, Cox remains incarcerated and maintains his innocence.
—Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, 18 Dec. 2024
According to the state’s department of corrections, Silva was serving a 43-year sentence for murder, robbery, arson and related charges and had been incarcerated since January 2013.
—Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 17 Dec. 2024
Noel is incarcerated in the New Castle Correctional Facility in New Castle, Indiana.
—Leo Bertucci, The Courier-Journal, 24 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for incarcerate 
Dictionary Entries Near incarcerate
Cite this Entry
“Incarcerate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incarcerate. Accessed 5 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
incarcerate
verb
Legal Definition
incarcerate
transitive verb
Latin incarceratus, past participle of incarcerare, from in- in + carcer prison
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