as in freed
to set free (as from slavery or confinement)
under the cover of darkness animal rights activists emancipated the inhabitants of the mink ranch
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in liberated
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Recent Examples of emancipated
Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025
In the Revolutionary War itself, Britain’s Lord Dunmore had emancipated large numbers of southern slaves as a war measure—a fact well-known in both the 1770s and the 1860s.
—Akhil Reed Amar, Time, 22 Sep. 2025
Nev, who’s now 17 and emancipated, returns to Avan Island.
—Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 21 Sep. 2025
Escape, betrayal and onward to Freedom Quarles self-emancipated in 1842 on the same day this country celebrates its independence — July 4.
—La Risa R. Lynch, jsonline.com, 17 Sep. 2025
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
Adjective
This is well over a dozen years before Black people are declared emancipated.
—Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025
In the Revolutionary War itself, Britain’s Lord Dunmore had emancipated large numbers of southern slaves as a war measure—a fact well-known in both the 1770s and the 1860s.
—Akhil Reed Amar, Time, 22 Sep. 2025
Nev, who’s now 17 and emancipated, returns to Avan Island.
—Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 21 Sep. 2025
Escape, betrayal and onward to Freedom Quarles self-emancipated in 1842 on the same day this country celebrates its independence — July 4.
—La Risa R. Lynch, jsonline.com, 17 Sep. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for emancipated
Verb
-
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
-
After the man was freed, he was taken to a hospital with serious injuries to his lower body, according to KXAS and The Dallas Morning News.—
Abigail Adams,
PEOPLE,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The stars say that Anderson’s ambitious, liberated ideas should carry through to womenswear.—
Maya AlZaben,
Vogue,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Micro minis and short shorts dominated the runways, from Prada to Versace, underscoring a liberated, high-summer spirit.—
Samantha Conti,
Footwear News,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Officials at the Water Reclamation Authority are pursuing new goals after the utility was officially released last year from a pair of longstanding legal agreements that required the utility to address sewer overflows, leading to major investments across the system.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
22 Oct. 2025
-
The Perfect Neighbor is among the most startling documentaries Netflix has released onto its platform in years.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Charlie had been abandoned and then rescued and fostered by a man in Jacksonville.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
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The news comes after a Holland America Line ship rescued two people from a sailing vessel in distress in August during a cruise from Boston to Quebec City, Canada.—
Nathan Diller,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The site will also showcase regional heroes of the Underground Railroad, including the work of Smith, a freeborn woman with African American heritage who spent 21 years of her life as Stevens’ house manager and confidante (and, some speculate, his common-law wife).—
Tracy Schorn,
Smithsonian Magazine,
1 Dec. 2023
-
Robert—a man born in Africa, enslaved in America, and now a free farmer—and his freeborn African-American herbalist wife, Mary, had worked diligently to ensure this security for themselves and their children.—
Janet Barber,
Scientific American,
9 Nov. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Emancipated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/emancipated. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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