1
as in emancipation
the act of setting free from slavery
the Emancipation Proclamation was merely the first step in the full enfranchisement of African-Americans
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Recent Examples of enfranchisement
Many claim that with the abolition of slavery and the enfranchisement of women, and many other new laws like civil rights legislation and changing gender norms, there has been great progress.
—
Literary Hub, 12 Dec. 2025
In theory, this transition inaugurates a chapter of enfranchisement, but in the next scene the Senegalese businessmen are in suits, and the white men return with briefcases full of money as bribes.
—Lovia Gyarkye, IndieWire, 19 Aug. 2025
Literary Hub, 12 Dec. 2025
In theory, this transition inaugurates a chapter of enfranchisement, but in the next scene the Senegalese businessmen are in suits, and the white men return with briefcases full of money as bribes.
—Lovia Gyarkye, IndieWire, 19 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enfranchisement
Noun
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So the instrument became part of a process of emancipation and socialization.—
Tim Parks,
New Yorker,
11 Apr. 2026
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That’s an indicator of the government’s respect for Kimbangu as a champion of Black emancipation and highlights the Kimbanguist movement’s importance as a source of votes.—
Rodney Muhumuza,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Another installation will tell the story of women's history through shoes, from the suffrage movement of the early 1900s to the heyday of Hollywood.—
Jane Levere,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Apr. 2026
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Black troops’ contributions to the Union cause during the Civil War helped convince Abraham Lincoln of the righteousness of extending suffrage to Black men.—
Adam Serwer,
The Atlantic,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
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If Kimbangu’s articulation of a homegrown theology of Black liberation appealed to many Congolese in violent colonial times, now his message resonates differently as Congo faces instability stemming from a violent rebellion in the east.—
Rodney Muhumuza,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
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This cutting of the bonds that tie war making to grand geopolitical narratives is a kind of liberation.—
Fintan O’Toole,
The New York Review of Books,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Enfranchisement.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enfranchisement. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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