1
as in emancipation
the act of setting free from slavery
the Emancipation Proclamation was merely the first step in the full enfranchisement of African-Americans
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Recent Examples of enfranchisement
Many claim that with the abolition of slavery and the enfranchisement of women, and many other new laws like civil rights legislation and changing gender norms, there has been great progress.
—
Literary Hub, 12 Dec. 2025
In theory, this transition inaugurates a chapter of enfranchisement, but in the next scene the Senegalese businessmen are in suits, and the white men return with briefcases full of money as bribes.
—Lovia Gyarkye, IndieWire, 19 Aug. 2025
Literary Hub, 12 Dec. 2025
In theory, this transition inaugurates a chapter of enfranchisement, but in the next scene the Senegalese businessmen are in suits, and the white men return with briefcases full of money as bribes.
—Lovia Gyarkye, IndieWire, 19 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enfranchisement
Noun
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Monumental Baptist Church is marking 200 years of service, a legacy that stretches back generations — long before emancipation and just decades after the nation's founding.—
Wakisha Bailey,
CBS News,
20 Mar. 2026
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Some view these people’s unemployment as the beginning of their emancipation.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Women's suffrage movement At first, the suffrage movement focused on getting individual states to pass the women's vote.—
Courtney Cole,
CBS News,
23 Mar. 2026
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That committee approved a set of different designs, which included images related to the abolition of slavery, the Civil Rights Movement and women's suffrage.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
22 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Another reorientation arrived in the seventies and eighties, in response to gay liberation, feminism, and greater workplace equality.—
Charles Bethea,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
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Like the Lenten journey, the onset of Passover commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian servitude, the onset of a 40-year march homeward to the land of promise.—
Michael Pfleger,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Enfranchisement.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enfranchisement. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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