decarcerate

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UK/diːˈkɑː.səˌɹeɪt/US/diːˈkɑɹ.səˌɹeɪt/

verb

To implement a policy of decarceration; to reduce prison populations.

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Meanings

verbdecarcerate (third-person singular simple present decarcerates, present participle decarcerating, simple past and past participle decarcerated)

present singular third person decarcerates · participle present decarcerating · participle past decarcerated · past decarcerated

  1. To implement a policy of decarceration; to reduce prison populations.

    Refusing to decarcerate and now increasing spending on policing that will drive the shuttling of even more Americans into jails and prisons is especially perverse given the recent attention paid to the worsening conditions of confinement and the mistreatment of the incarcerated.

    2022 January 25, Eric Reinhardt, “How Joe Biden Launched a New Prison Boom”, in Slate

Origin

Modeled on incarcerate, replacing the prefix with de-.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

decarcerate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decarcerate

MLA

“decarcerate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decarcerate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “decarcerate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/decarcerate.

Source: decarcerate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.