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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of chattel
There was no forgetting the notorious Confederate prison camps like Andersonville and Salisbury, the Confederate pogrom at Fort Pillow, and the fact that the South had seceded in the first place to perpetuate and expand an elite-serving economy based on human chattel.
—
Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 5 Oct. 2025
Only a racist would dare to defend or dismiss slavery, which stripped Africans of human rights and enslaved them as chattel to pick cotton on Southern plantations.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 21 Aug. 2025
In many jurisdictions, the appeal of collecting is further enhanced through tax advantage, with sales exempt from capital gains thanks to wine’s classification as a wasting chattel.
—Paul Caputo, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for chattel
Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 5 Oct. 2025
Only a racist would dare to defend or dismiss slavery, which stripped Africans of human rights and enslaved them as chattel to pick cotton on Southern plantations.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 21 Aug. 2025
In many jurisdictions, the appeal of collecting is further enhanced through tax advantage, with sales exempt from capital gains thanks to wine’s classification as a wasting chattel.
—Paul Caputo, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for chattel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chattel
Noun
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But Aden also holds the hotel where Rimbaud once lived, while working as an arms dealer, as well as slave trader, according to some biographies.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Jan. 2026
-
Using the database, one study suggests that open resistance may have occurred in as many as 10 percent of slave voyages.—
Laurent Dubois,
The Atlantic,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Zubimendi won possession 12 times during that match — the most by any Arsenal player in a game this season.—
Thom Harris,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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Troopers also seized an unregistered gun and ammunition from Cook, who is charged with trafficking 200 grams or more of cocaine, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.—
Tim Dunn,
Boston Herald,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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However, Chuba Hubbard’s calf injury in the second quarter of the season opened things up for Dowdle to emerge.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Jan. 2026
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Jeff Klaiber took those things and molded Lehman into an Olympian, at times pushing boundaries and pushing Lehman to the brink.—
Andrew Carter,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In other words, pedestrian stuff that doesn’t light up social media or earn an invitation to hold forth on one of the Beltway chat shows.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
7 Jan. 2026
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Beyond politics, what about the more inside baseball industry stuff?—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
7 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Chattel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chattel. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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