PRISONS Synonyms: 79 Similar and Opposite Words

prisons

noun

plural of prison

as in jails

a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody the ongoing debate whether drug users should go to prison

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

outsides

as in captivities

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 prisons The Israeli Supreme Court earlier this year ordered the government to resume sharing such lists and allowing the ICRC to visit detainees in Israeli prisons to assess their conditions. — ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026 Flávio has promised to designate major criminal factions as terrorist groups, expand prisons and lower the age of criminal responsibility. — Alessandra Freitas, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2026 The history of castles is, of course, also filled with gruesome details, and some of the most famous fortresses served as prisons and sites of torture and execution. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026 And eight countries have their own maximum-security prisons in the works. — Jack Nicas, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2026 This includes, but isn’t limited to, select medical staff at state prisons and hospitals as well as cooks. — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 21 Oct. 2026 Abuse of power seems particularly likely when male guards are put in charge of female prisoners, yet precisely this dynamic is the reality in many American prisons. — Judy Berman, Time, 21 Oct. 2026 For several years, people in custody, advocates and local media have sounded the alarm about the dangers posed by extreme temperatures in Pennsylvania’s state prisons. — Jaquelyn Jahn, The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2026 At prisons, schools, and recovery meetings, people recognize a Trejo character first and then listen to the man’s own story. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 15 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for prisons

Noun

The $1 million would come from the same pool of mostly property-tax dollars that fund police, jails, parks and transit.

— Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2026
And the administration persuaded more and more local police and jails to carry out the president’s mass deportation campaign, sweeping still more immigrants into custody.

— Melissa Sanchez, ProPublica, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of jails

Noun

Part of the Measure J mandate passed by voters in 2020 is to reduce incarcerations by adding more interdictions by substance abuse and mental health counselors, when there’s no weapon involved or violent threat.

— Steve Scauzillo, Daily News, 11 Aug. 2026
One 2025 study found that these waivers may be tied to fewer hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and incarcerations among adults with serious mental illness.

— Helen Santoro, Denver Post, 29 June 2026

Definition of incarcerations

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prisoners

prisons

prissy

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“Prisons.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prisons. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of prisons

noun

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