Synonym Chooser

How does the verb emancipate differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of emancipate are free, liberate, manumit, and release. While all these words mean "to set loose from restraint or constraint," emancipate implies the liberation of a person from subjection or domination.

labor-saving devices emancipated us from household drudgery

When might free be a better fit than emancipate?

While the synonyms free and emancipate are close in meaning, free implies a usually permanent removal from whatever binds, confines, entangles, or oppresses.

freed the animals from their cages

In what contexts can liberate take the place of emancipate?

The meanings of liberate and emancipate largely overlap; however, liberate stresses particularly the resulting state of liberty.

liberated their country from the tyrant

When could manumit be used to replace emancipate?

The words manumit and emancipate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, manumit implies emancipation from slavery.

the document manumitted the slaves

When would release be a good substitute for emancipate?

In some situations, the words release and emancipate are roughly equivalent. However, release suggests a setting loose from confinement, restraint, or a state of pressure or tension, often without implication of permanent liberation.

released his anger on a punching bag

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 emancipate Some of the cattle roaming the marsh are rumored to be the feral descendants of herds emancipated two decades ago by Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall about five miles upriver. Nathaniel Rich, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025 The federal government's few attempts to transition the recently emancipated into the postwar economy were inadequate, historians believe. Andrea Riquier, USA Today, 8 Aug. 2025 Creators could become emancipated from their platofrms, and communities develop not just social but real currencies. Boaz Sobrado, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2025 Abolitionists, farmers, emancipated Blacks, mechanics, prohibitionists, and populists all used fusion voting during the 19th century to make sure that their voices were heard by their fellow citizens as well as the leaders of this vast, diverse nation. Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for emancipate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for emancipate
Verb
  • Uranus retrograde in your sign on the 6th may cause some unexpected twists, but these changes are meant to liberate you from old ways of thinking and being.
    Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Oct. 2025
  • The film opens in an immigration detention camp, as a band of left-wing political militants known as the French 75 infiltrate the facility to liberate the detained, and detain the military overseers.
    Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • This frees up invaluable human time to shape creative ideas and make strategic decisions on where audiences are most likely to engage.
    Derya Matras, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2025
  • Addressing my trauma really is freeing.
    Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 4 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • According to figures from a housing assessment released this April, the median house value in Fayetteville has grown 275% in the last two decades, and the median gross rent has increased 78%.
    Juan Cordoba, Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2025
  • In the lead-up to the tournament, Argentina had played a series of friendlies without him, since Valencia refused to release him.
    Michael Cox, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Brooks explained the white and brown pup was rescued from a cruelty case in South Carolina.
    Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025
  • As Sergio uncovers that the village’s devotion to Matteo is far from benevolent, his attempt to rescue the boy known as the Angel of Remis ignites the community’s vengeful nature.
    Matt Grobar, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Open primaries would enfranchise more than a million New York voters, who are disproportionately young and represent communities of color.
    John Avlon, New York Daily News, 7 July 2025
  • About a year after the infirmary team returned to the United States, the 19th Amendment became law, enfranchising 27 million women, the largest expansion of voting rights in American history.
    Amy Sohn, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 June 2025
Verb
  • Blood is always poised and ready to clot, because the body sees this as a life-saving mechanism.
    Bryant Stamford, Louisville Courier Journal, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Is intuitive budgeting effective for saving money?
    Andreina Rodriguez, CNBC, 1 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The commonwealth has been without an operational freestanding birthing center since the 1980s, said Mary Kathryn DeLodder, director of the Kentucky Birth Coalition — a grassroots organization that led the charge in advocating for legislation loosening regulations for the facilities.
    Killian Baarlaer, Louisville Courier Journal, 3 Oct. 2025
  • That's because the city has a history of shifting on this issue, from when pursuits were restricted following bystander deaths, and then loosened in response to carjackings and reckless driving in the city.
    David Clarey, jsonline.com, 3 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Tubman’s father had been manumitted by his owner, but Brodess had inherited Tubman, hiring her and her siblings out to neighbors for seasonal work, whether trapping muskrats or clearing land.
    Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 24 June 2024
  • Grant would manumit his one enslaved servant, William Jones, in 1859.
    Harold Holzer, WSJ, 1 Jan. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Emancipate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/emancipate. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.

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