as in reducing
to take control of and assert authority over
—usually used as (be) enslaved
Her ancestors were enslaved during the war.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
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 enslaving
The existential risk of AI wiping out humans or enslaving us could be predicated on our laziness and lack of concern about small signs.
—
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
The story is built around Kitana’s childhood trauma of losing her father to the evil Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), who has taken over her home realm of Edenia, enslaving her mother as his zombie consort, Sindel (Ana Thu Nguyen).
—Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 8 May 2026
Some Connecticut towns have brought history out in the open by researching and sharing information about its history with regard to enslaving people.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 27 Apr. 2026
Advertisement Du Bois, for example, published a pageant—a common form for sharing lessons from Washington’s life during his bicentennial—that placed Washington’s enslaving front and center.
—John Garrison Marks, Time, 7 Apr. 2026
Aisuru and Kimwolf work by first infecting vulnerable online devices, enslaving them into a network of hijacked computers.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 20 Mar. 2026
Historical accounts describe Sutter, a Swiss immigrant and early California settler, as enslaving Indigenous people and forcing tribes to work in inhumane and sometimes deadly conditions.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 1 Mar. 2026
The two-minute finale offered a riveting display in a nation that prides itself as being founded and enriched by immigrants, alongside an ugly history of enslaving millions of them and limiting who can come in.
—Laurie Kellman, Fortune, 5 Dec. 2025
In this era, several justifications were offered for enslaving Africans.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
The story is built around Kitana’s childhood trauma of losing her father to the evil Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), who has taken over her home realm of Edenia, enslaving her mother as his zombie consort, Sindel (Ana Thu Nguyen).
—Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 8 May 2026
Some Connecticut towns have brought history out in the open by researching and sharing information about its history with regard to enslaving people.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 27 Apr. 2026
Advertisement Du Bois, for example, published a pageant—a common form for sharing lessons from Washington’s life during his bicentennial—that placed Washington’s enslaving front and center.
—John Garrison Marks, Time, 7 Apr. 2026
Aisuru and Kimwolf work by first infecting vulnerable online devices, enslaving them into a network of hijacked computers.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 20 Mar. 2026
Historical accounts describe Sutter, a Swiss immigrant and early California settler, as enslaving Indigenous people and forcing tribes to work in inhumane and sometimes deadly conditions.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 1 Mar. 2026
The two-minute finale offered a riveting display in a nation that prides itself as being founded and enriched by immigrants, alongside an ugly history of enslaving millions of them and limiting who can come in.
—Laurie Kellman, Fortune, 5 Dec. 2025
In this era, several justifications were offered for enslaving Africans.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enslaving
Verb
-
The price tag comes from the California State Auditor’s report that was issued last fall, which found that maintaining similar telework policies could potentially save $225 million annually by reducing the government’s office space footprint.—
William Melhado,
Sacbee.com,
6 June 2026
-
An April 2026 analysis identified 446 hospitals across 44 states at high risk of closing or reducing services because of Medicaid funding cuts.—
Jesse Pines,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
Verb
-
After defeating the Netherlands, Team Algeria returned home for a short break.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
8 June 2026
-
After defeating Chwalinska in straight sets, Andreeva took time at the end of her acceptance speech to speak Russian, seemingly in defiance of the vilification due to her ethnic heritage by the tennis governing bodies and opposing players.—
Jon Root OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
7 June 2026
Verb
-
If Neptune did have an original set of moons that more closely resembled those of its planetary neighbors, the arrival of Triton — which is just smaller than our own moon — would have wreaked havoc, crashing into the other satellites and annihilating some of them.—
Jacopo Prisco,
CNN Money,
20 May 2026
-
Now southern Republicans are annihilating Black political power.—
Adam Serwer,
The Atlantic,
19 May 2026
Verb
-
The barriers our students face have changed over the years, but our commitment to overcoming them remains the same as always.—
Albert D. Mosley,
The Orlando Sentinel,
12 June 2026
-
Rather than scaling software, their approach focuses on overcoming physical bottlenecks—verified by the laws of physics—to build the foundational architecture for the broader space economy.—
Alexandra Vidyuk,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
Verb
-
Likewise, meekness once meant not becoming weak, but subjugating power to reason – not letting anger take control.—
Timothy J. Pawl,
The Conversation,
23 Feb. 2026
-
However, once Hernán Cortés triumphed, the conquistadors went from waging war — vanquishing the Aztecs — to the project of subjugating Indigenous holdouts and building a self-sustaining territory loyal to the crown.—
Foreign Correspondent,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
That legacy includes crushing both hyperinflation and the Maoist insurgents of the Shining Path, who bathed Peru in blood in the 1980s and 1990s.—
Simeon Tegel,
NPR,
6 June 2026
-
Less than two minutes later, Messi lost the ball near the halfway line and a France move ended with a sumptuous, crushing Mbappe volley hitting the back of the net.—
Will Jeanes,
New York Times,
5 June 2026
Verb
-
The Seahawks won those shootouts, but that was mostly due to their special teams whipping the Rams and their offense going off, especially in the Super Bowl qualifier.—
Tom Krasovic,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 June 2026
-
Throughout the record, the image of Petras’ life in freefall recurs, giving the record a sense of hair-whipping freedom and heart-stopping urgency.—
Harry Tafoya,
Pitchfork,
2 June 2026
Verb
-
That licking instinct may have led Jacobs’s elk to an area known as Flag Swamp, a one-acre wetland filled with blue flag irises and shrubby willow trees.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
-
Finally, monitor pets for behavioral changes, as pets may experience pain, licking or chewing at a wound, loss of appetite and lethargy.—
Mateo Rosiles,
USA Today,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Enslaving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enslaving. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
