Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
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.

The government opened the federal penitentiary on Alcatraz in 1934, hoping to use the remote island to house particularly difficult prisoners, according to the National Park Service.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 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

Last year, he began serving a 14-year-sentence for graft, joining two other former presidents behind bars at a special penitentiary for ex-leaders east of Lima.

From Barron's • Feb. 17, 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

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


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember "penitentiary" for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com