as in slavery
the state of being an enslaved person
people freed from bondage
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Recent Examples of bondage
Where there was once bondage, there is now liberation.
—
Essence, 7 Jan. 2026
Women often totter along a delicate line between beauty and torture, femininity and the bondage of expectation.
—Jane Wooldridge, Miami Herald, 7 Dec. 2025
Opposition to slavery was both widespread and constant across west African territories, from the earliest days of Atlantic slavery, as with the São Tomé rebellion and Lourenio da Silva Mendonia’s vigorous appeal against human bondage to the Vatican, all the way through to the nineteenth century.
—Literary Hub, 5 Dec. 2025
They were held in bondage, forced to labor long hours with no pay, provided inadequate food and shelter, and under threat of physical abuse or even death at the slightest provocation.
—Big Think, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bondage
Essence, 7 Jan. 2026
Women often totter along a delicate line between beauty and torture, femininity and the bondage of expectation.
—Jane Wooldridge, Miami Herald, 7 Dec. 2025
Opposition to slavery was both widespread and constant across west African territories, from the earliest days of Atlantic slavery, as with the São Tomé rebellion and Lourenio da Silva Mendonia’s vigorous appeal against human bondage to the Vatican, all the way through to the nineteenth century.
—Literary Hub, 5 Dec. 2025
They were held in bondage, forced to labor long hours with no pay, provided inadequate food and shelter, and under threat of physical abuse or even death at the slightest provocation.
—Big Think, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bondage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bondage
slavery
Noun
-
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
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Amid all the admiring, even nostalgic, books and films commemorating America’s revolutionary beginnings in the lead-up to our country’s 250th birthday, Ellis’ book examines the underside of that time, specifically the failure to end slavery, and the failure to avoid Indian removal.—
The Know,
Denver Post,
22 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bondage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bondage. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
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