PEONAGE Synonyms: 29 Similar and Opposite Words

peonage

noun

Definition of peonage

as in serfdom

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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 peonage Many Black Americans fled this violent system of peonage and terror in the Great Migration, moving to cities such as Gary and Pittsburgh for a better life. — John E. Jackson Sr, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 2026 Ryan Coogler didn’t want to hide anymore The film conveys two forms of peonage prominent in the 1930s South—labor arrangements not far removed from slavery. — Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, 2 May 2025 The Black community’s relationship with growing food is colored by exploitive practices, from slavery to sharecropping, tenant farming and peonage, or debt servitude. — Lyndsay C. Green, Detroit Free Press, 27 Nov. 2024 Convict leasing, also called peonage, juxtaposed the infrastructure of the Old English debtor’s prison with the barbarism of chattel slavery to bolster American capitalism. — Phillip Vance Smith, JSTOR Daily, 1 Feb. 2024 See All Example Sentences for peonage

Recent Examples of Synonyms for peonage

Noun

Or that Franciscan fathers — members of an order dedicated to lives of poverty and humility — forced tribes to give up their foods, customs and religion in the name of Christ, rewarding them with serfdom.

— Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026
Datebook Picks If Firs is a vestige of serfdom, Joseph O’Malley as eternal graduate student Pétya forecasts the coming revolution.

— Theater Critic, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Feb. 2026

Definition of serfdom

Noun

Genetic analyses, such as those used in the new Jefferson study, can help restore connections that were lost because of slavery, Harney added.

— Mindy Weisberger, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026
In New England, the first act was to steal our corn and acorns and beans in 1620 and to torch our villages with men, women, and children inside and to sell the survivors into slavery.

— J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of slavery

Noun

With polished prose and impeccable research, historian Philbrick unravels the Golden State’s ties to profit, enslavement and white supremacy.

— Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
Earling gives a voice to the young girl Sacajewea, creating a shattering first-person account of her enslavement, her grief, and her endurance, re-centering her in a brutal history.

— The Week US, TheWeek, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of enslavement

Noun

The National Park Service is revising interpretations at its sites to offer an upbeat rendering of human bondage, if slavery is mentioned at all.

— Drew Gilpin Faust, The New York Review of Books, 19 Sep. 2026
The idea called for Axl and Erin to be seen in various scenes involving bondage.

— Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of bondage

Noun

Suffering from severe financial inequality and oppressed by the yoke of dictators and oligarchs, the people rise up and storm the seat of government.

— Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026
Price upon request Louis Vuitton Pharrell’s autumn outing features several eye-catching knits, including this volcanic take on a Nordic yoke sweater, which deviates from more-traditional styles with an irregular, almost pixilated gradient pattern.

— Jon Roth, Robb Report, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of yoke

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“Peonage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peonage. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of peonage

noun

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