1.
prison; jail; dungeon
A place of confinement for prisoners. Often carries a literary or historical tone suggesting harsh conditions.
牢獄に入れられた。
He was thrown into prison.
政治犯は暗い牢獄で長年過ごした。
The political prisoner spent many years in a dark dungeon.
中世ヨーロッパの城には地下牢獄があった。
Medieval European castles had underground dungeons.
2.
prison (figurative); confinement
A situation, place, or state that feels oppressively restrictive, like being trapped.
この仕事は牢獄のようだ。
This job feels like a prison.
孤独という名の牢獄に閉じ込められていた。
I was trapped in a prison called loneliness.
彼にとって、あの家は牢獄も同然だった。
For him, that house was practically a prison.
A literary and formal word for prison, composed of 牢 (prison cell) and 獄 (prison; jail). More evocative and dramatic than the everyday word 刑務所. Frequently appears in historical fiction, literature, and figurative expressions.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 牢獄に入れる: to put in prison
- 牢獄に閉じ込める: to lock away in a dungeon
- 牢獄から出る: to get out of prison
- 地下牢獄: underground dungeon
- 牢獄のような: prison-like
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 刑務所: prison; penitentiary — the standard modern term for a correctional facility
- 監獄: prison; jail — formal and somewhat old-fashioned, but less literary than 牢獄
- 牢屋: jail cell; prison — slightly more colloquial than 牢獄, evoking a small confined space