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Showing results for penitentiary. Search instead for penitenciario.
Definitions

penitentiary

[pen-i-ten-shuh-ree] / ˌpɛn ɪˈtɛn ʃə ri /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

At least 30 prisoners were released Monday from the Rodeo I penitentiary east of Caracas to scenes of joy from waiting relatives.

From Barron's • Feb. 23, 2026

Early last year, prison officials transferred Hernández out of the federal detention center in Brooklyn, which largely holds pretrial detainees, and sent him to the high-security Hazelton penitentiary in West Virginia.

From Salon • Feb. 19, 2026

In it, the special agent in charge recounts an interview done with one of Ray’s cellmates in the Missouri penitentiary who reported Ray having said to him:

From Slate • Dec. 1, 2025

"Georgian authorities put human-centered approach at the heart of the penitentiary reform to ensure the healthy management of prison system," it said in a statement.

From BBC • Nov. 2, 2025

It’s bad enough that the great city of San Francisco should suffer the indignity of a maximum security federal penitentiary in its midst without being subject to these sorts of sick and dangerous shenanigans.

From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko




Vocabulary lists containing penitentiary