as in slavery
the state of being an enslaved person
people freed from bondage
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bondage
The American border agency said its probe identified abuse of vulnerability, abusive working and living conditions, debt bondage, withholding of wages, and excessive overtime.
—
Wayne Chang, CNN Money, 25 Sep. 2025
Today is the 450th anniversary of Cervantes’ kidnapping and the beginning of his five-year bondage in Algiers.
—Ed Simon
september 22, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2025
The store supplied her with bondage pants, kilts, and T-shirts printed with obscene illustrations.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
The Grammy Award-winning singer wore a look from the Italian luxury fashion house’s 2003 collection, featuring sensual lace-up elements evocative of corsetry and bondage in equal measure.
—Julia Teti, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for bondage
Wayne Chang, CNN Money, 25 Sep. 2025
Today is the 450th anniversary of Cervantes’ kidnapping and the beginning of his five-year bondage in Algiers.
—Ed Simon
september 22, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2025
The store supplied her with bondage pants, kilts, and T-shirts printed with obscene illustrations.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
The Grammy Award-winning singer wore a look from the Italian luxury fashion house’s 2003 collection, featuring sensual lace-up elements evocative of corsetry and bondage in equal measure.
—Julia Teti, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for bondage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bondage
slavery
Noun
-
Once freed from slavery, Washington toiled in coal mines, worked as a janitor in exchange for formal education and became a great American orator and leader of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.—
Jennifer Smith Richards,
ProPublica,
22 Oct. 2025
-
How the stakeholders juggled those diametrically opposed ideas—liberty and self-governance but also slavery and their horrific treatment of the Native American population—is the part of the human experience that Burns is most interested in exploring.—
Carlo Versano,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bondage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bondage. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share