panopticon

noun

pan·​op·​ti·​con pə-ˈnäp-ti-ˌkän 

pa-

plural panopticons

1

: an optical instrument combining the telescope and microscope

2

: a circular prison built with cells arranged radially so that a guard at a central position can see all the prisoners

Examples of panopticon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And in some ways the panopticon of internet gossiping at such a scale shows all the goods and evils that gossiping has to offer. —Kelsey McKinney, Rolling Stone, 8 Feb. 2025

Holland is transforming three of its iconic 19th-century panopticon former prisons into arts and cultural centers, reports The Guardian. —The Editors Of Artnews, ARTnews.com, 8 Jan. 2025

The Breda panopticon was acquired by Being and VDD Project Development and is set to open in 2028 as an exhibition space for audio-visual projects. —The Editors Of Artnews, ARTnews.com, 8 Jan. 2025

Building Bostrom’s panopticon to prevent the creation of a doomsday machine would be equivalent to committing suicide for fear of being murdered. —Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 18 May 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1742, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for panopticon

• agamemnon
• automaton
• diencephalon
• phenomenon
• aileron
• antiphon
• autobahn
• carillon
• castellan
• celadon
• cephalon
• chitosan