enfranchisement

1
2
as in suffrage
the right to formally express one's position or will in an election a time when enfranchisement was limited to white males who owned property

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 enfranchisement And in the young republic, enfranchisement quickly expanded further, with perhaps 80 percent of adult white men—90 percent in some states—coming to hold the right to vote. — Yoni Appelbaum, The Atlantic, 8 June 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enfranchisement
Noun
  • Working for the browser was even more emancipation from a big production routine.
    — Shanti Escalante-De Mattei, ARTnews.com, 14 Sep. 2026
  • To Karice, that meant Samuel, Sarah's older brother, was born before emancipation.
    — Lesley Stahl, CBS News, 6 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • She’s shown using her freedom to open a wildlife refuge for animals, host lavish dinner parties for dozens of guests, and fight for suffrage.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 18 Sep. 2026
  • In the show, women gain the right to own property, and the campaign for female suffrage is in the air—though not within Sybylla’s family.
    — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • She was born and raised in the refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria, and has devoted her adult life to campaigning for Western Sahara’s liberation from Moroccan sovereignty.
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Elections, which took place in February 1980, ushered in complete Black majority rule under Mugabe and his ZANU-PF (with the name recently changed to reflect the group’s connection to the Patriotic Front and its role in the liberation struggle).
    — Chinatsu Tsuji, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Enfranchisement.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enfranchisement. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

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