slavery

noun

slav·​ery ˈslā-v(ə-)rē 

plural slaveries

1

a

: the practice or institution of holding people as chattel involuntarily and under threat of violence

In reality, though, African forms of slavery didn't compare with the racialized industrial variants that Western empires unleashed upon the world. … Here in the United States … the enslaved were relegated to subhuman status for generations.

—Julian Lucas

Slavery officially ended in New Jersey in 1804, but in practice some people remained slaves until 1865, when the ratification of the 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery in the United States.

—Suzanne Travers

see also chattel slavery

b

: the state of a person who is forced usually under threat of violence to labor for the profit of another

[Frederick] Douglass … escaped from slavery at the age of twenty and quickly emerged as a major orator and leader of the antislavery crusade.

—Manning Marable

The organization says it has helped 135 victims escape sex slavery over the past 10 years.

—Audrey McAvoy

c

: a situation or practice in which people are coerced to work under conditions that are exploitative

… the unit has freed more than 26,000 workers nationwide from debt slavery. Under the practice, common in the Amazon, poor laborers are lured to remote spots where they rack up debts to plantation owners who charge exorbitant prices for everything from food to transportation.

—Vivian Sequera

… a labor union for prisoners that aims "to end prison slavery," announced the start of a nationwide strike inside U.S. prisons. Wages for incarcerated workers are typically measured in cents per hour, and several states … use the labor of prisoners without paying them at all.

—Daniel A. Gross

see also wage slavery

2

: submission to a dominating influence

slavery to habit

… it will probably be left to the next administration to act hopefully in a bold and visionary manner to free us from our slavery to oil.

—Alon Ben-Meir

Synonyms of slavery

• enslavement
• servitude
• bondage
• captivity
• yoke

Examples of slavery in a Sentence

Frederick Douglass was central advocate for the abolition of slavery.

My dad put up with the slavery of working in the coal mines every day of his adult life.

Recent Examples on the Web

Fulton County Reparations Task Force, a volunteer group in Georgia’s most populous county, recently submitted a 636-page report on the harms the municipality dealt through slavery and discrimination against Black residents. —Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 8 Jan. 2026

When Connecticut receives a report of human trafficking – or modern slavery – multiple agencies collaborate to determine the situation, rescue the victim and provide necessary services like housing, health care and mental health support, and prosecute the offender. —Kaitlin McCallum, Hartford Courant, 8 Jan. 2026

Or President Abraham Lincoln, who in 1865 led victory against the Confederacy and its attempt to destroy our nation through an armed rebellion designed to preserve the institution of human slavery. —Douglas Letter, Time, 6 Jan. 2026

Juneteenth, the annual June 19 commemoration of the end of slavery in Confederate states, has been a federal holiday since 2021. —Cheryl V. Jackson, IndyStar, 6 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Phrases Containing slavery

• anti-slavery
• chattel slavery
• debt-slavery
• wage slavery
• white slavery

Rhymes for slavery

• bravery
• knavery
• savory
• antislavery
• proslavery
• unsavory

Kids Definition

slavery

noun

slav·​ery ˈslāv-(ə-)rē 

1

: drudgery, toil

2

a

: the state of a person who is held in forced servitude

b

: the practice of slaveholding