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
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
Douglass’s former North Star co-editor, Martin Delany, who had been admitted to Harvard Medical School but was forced out after white students complained, responded to Dred Scott — and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 — by writing a novel whose hero escapes bondage and plots an overthrow of slavery.
—Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
Rogers noted that the book argues that a central cause of the war was Anglo settlers’ determination to keep slaves in bondage after Mexico largely abolished it.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2025
For a stroll back in time, bucolic Natchez, MS offers tourists a comforting view of the antebellum South, glossing over such inconvenient realities as millions of people held in bondage.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bondage
Big Think, 13 Nov. 2025
Douglass’s former North Star co-editor, Martin Delany, who had been admitted to Harvard Medical School but was forced out after white students complained, responded to Dred Scott — and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 — by writing a novel whose hero escapes bondage and plots an overthrow of slavery.
—Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
Rogers noted that the book argues that a central cause of the war was Anglo settlers’ determination to keep slaves in bondage after Mexico largely abolished it.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2025
For a stroll back in time, bucolic Natchez, MS offers tourists a comforting view of the antebellum South, glossing over such inconvenient realities as millions of people held in bondage.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bondage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bondage
slavery
Noun
-
The multi-instrumentalist released this song in the wake of George Floyd’s death taking those three devastating words as her title and tracing Black suffering all the way back to slavery.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
1 Feb. 2026
-
The state aimed but failed to pass legislation last year that would condemn the Treaty of Hartford, which in 1638 directed that Pequots who survived the war be sold into slavery.—
Livi Stanford,
Hartford Courant,
31 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bondage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bondage. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
