1
as in slave
a person who is considered the property of another person
an amendment to end the keeping of humans as chattel
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in possession
chattels plural
transportable items that one owns
packed up all her chattels and moved to a new state
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of chattel
There is no question, the enslaved workers at the Nottoway Plantation during the antebellum era were human chattel.
—
Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Time, 21 May 2025
Khartoum was founded as a slave market, in 1821, and Arabs continued to raid southern areas, including the Nuba Mountains, for human chattel long after the practice was outlawed, in 1924.
—Nicolas Niarchos, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
Enslavers often viewed them as mere chattel and not worth the expense and effort of commissioning a painting.
—Kate McMahon, The Conversation, 3 Feb. 2025
The game is the system that keeps one as chattel for the other.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 26 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for chattel
Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Time, 21 May 2025
Khartoum was founded as a slave market, in 1821, and Arabs continued to raid southern areas, including the Nuba Mountains, for human chattel long after the practice was outlawed, in 1924.
—Nicolas Niarchos, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
Enslavers often viewed them as mere chattel and not worth the expense and effort of commissioning a painting.
—Kate McMahon, The Conversation, 3 Feb. 2025
The game is the system that keeps one as chattel for the other.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 26 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for chattel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chattel
Noun
-
Over the centuries, Muslim traders built mosques and schools in sedate Tamale, which was more inland and distant from the direct links of the transatlantic slave and colonial trade.—
Edna Bonhomme,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Beckett’s symbols of master and slave — the whip, the rope, the servant weighed down with baggage — are either mimed or cut and in doing so lose its real horror.—
Frank Rizzo,
Variety,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Protect your property and possessions from fire, theft, and other unexpected perils.—
Liz Knueven,
CNBC,
1 Oct. 2025
-
His record includes larceny, theft, and marijuana possession, the agency said.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Shannon tries to ram the trainers with elbows because, yeah, Shannon does those kinds of things.—
Peter Larsen,
Oc Register,
27 Sep. 2025
-
That means creative packing, while also keeping things as lightweight as possible to stay mobile.—
Skyler Caruso,
PEOPLE,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
But this stuff is taken personally, and there is also a financial backend here.—
Senior Editor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
-
As far as family, kids, wife, all that stuff going on.—
Law Murray,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Chattel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chattel. Accessed 3 Oct. 2025.
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