carceral
adjective
car·cer·al ˈkär-sə-rəl 
: of, relating to, or suggesting a jail or prison
Did you know?
Carceral is a member of a small but imposing family: like its close relations incarcerate (meaning "to imprison") and incarceration (meaning "confinement in a jail or prison"), its ultimate source is the Latin word for "prison," carcer. All three words have been in use since the 16th century, and all three are more common today than they were a century ago. Carceral has always been the rarest of the group, but its use has increased significantly since the turn of the current century, most often within academic or legal contexts.
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web People take jobs for different reasons, but there are structural barriers in place that keep certain people from aspiring to have good-paying jobs that don’t depend on the carceral state, jobs that don’t involve ripping children away. 
Fidel Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2022 However, the law has also drawn rebuke for increasing policing and bolstering a carceral system some say is demonstrably ineffective at preventing crime and discriminatory, particularly toward Black Americans. Amanda Su, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2022 Gates described clemency as an opportunity to recognize the disproportionate impact of the carceral system on Black and brown communities. Adrian Walker, BostonGlobe.com, 24 July 2022 Maybe this left-wing Rhodes Scholar was the man to beat back the carceral state. Benjamin Wallace-wells, The New Yorker, 8 June 2022 Caught in the double bind of toxic masculinity and a racist revolving-door carceral system, where does the buck stop? New York Times, 10 June 2022 Yet conservatives have exploited the potency and pervasiveness of anti-Blackness to turn the activists’ slogan into a dog whistle attack against liberal efforts to reform the carceral system. Anthony Conwright, The New Republic, 30 May 2022 Coordinate care inside and outside carceral settings. Bill Frist, Forbes, 15 June 2022 But the village’s dehumanizing rules and inhospitable conditions create anything but a safe and secure environment, and no amount of whimsy — in the form of colorful, cheery murals — can hide the carceral nature of the camp. Longreads, 4 Mar. 2022 See More
Fidel Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2022 However, the law has also drawn rebuke for increasing policing and bolstering a carceral system some say is demonstrably ineffective at preventing crime and discriminatory, particularly toward Black Americans. Amanda Su, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2022 Gates described clemency as an opportunity to recognize the disproportionate impact of the carceral system on Black and brown communities. Adrian Walker, BostonGlobe.com, 24 July 2022 Maybe this left-wing Rhodes Scholar was the man to beat back the carceral state. Benjamin Wallace-wells, The New Yorker, 8 June 2022 Caught in the double bind of toxic masculinity and a racist revolving-door carceral system, where does the buck stop? New York Times, 10 June 2022 Yet conservatives have exploited the potency and pervasiveness of anti-Blackness to turn the activists’ slogan into a dog whistle attack against liberal efforts to reform the carceral system. Anthony Conwright, The New Republic, 30 May 2022 Coordinate care inside and outside carceral settings. Bill Frist, Forbes, 15 June 2022 But the village’s dehumanizing rules and inhospitable conditions create anything but a safe and secure environment, and no amount of whimsy — in the form of colorful, cheery murals — can hide the carceral nature of the camp. Longreads, 4 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Late Latin, from Latin carcer prison
First Known Use
1570, in the meaning defined above
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