as in serfdom
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 peonage
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
Further, this much control over the autonomy of an athlete’s rights to their own NIL rights combined with a financial obligation could also trigger scrutiny under the 13th Amendment, which, in addition to abolishing slavery, placed prohibitions on peonage (i.e., working against your will).
—Joe Sabin, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024
The Wilberforce Act covers physical abuse and peonage, which is forced labor.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 6 June 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
Lyndsay C. Green, Detroit Free Press, 27 Nov. 2024
Further, this much control over the autonomy of an athlete’s rights to their own NIL rights combined with a financial obligation could also trigger scrutiny under the 13th Amendment, which, in addition to abolishing slavery, placed prohibitions on peonage (i.e., working against your will).
—Joe Sabin, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024
The Wilberforce Act covers physical abuse and peonage, which is forced labor.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 6 June 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
-
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
-
For them, freedom meant ending serfdom too.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
On the other hand, the court dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims that withholding privileges or credits constituted involuntary servitude.—
Julia Bowling,
The Conversation,
29 May 2026
-
In 2022, an eighty-year-old Pakistani American woman, Zahida Aman, and two of her sons were found guilty of forcing a woman from Pakistan into domestic servitude at their home in Virginia.—
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
Noun
-
The event was hosted by Shane Gillis and featured divisive manosphere comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who made jokes about lynching and slavery, respectively.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
13 June 2026
-
Sugarwater, then, may serve as a homecoming — a chance for folks both within and outside of the city to celebrate Black electronic music’s foundations, its current-day significance and the Black American liberation from slavery.—
Britt Julious,
Chicago Tribune,
12 June 2026
Noun
-
Nonetheless, the advertisement exemplifies the paradox of liberty and enslavement at the nation’s founding.—
Carolyn Zola,
The Conversation,
11 June 2026
-
Because one of the most powerful arguments that Republicans had before the Civil War—and Lincoln made this argument very poetically—is there is no necessary reason that the enslavement of propertyless people needs stop with people from Africa.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
The two had met in March through a website used for escort and stripping services, according to a court affidavit, and investigators alleged Dale paid Rylaarsdam more than $11,000 during the course of several weeks to talk to him and perform acts of bondage at his home.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 June 2026
-
Most of this sprawling show hinges on nearly 100 outfits showcased on mannequins arranged on a mock runway, the looks assembled by theme, from bondage to Baroque.—
Miles Socha,
Footwear News,
4 June 2026
Noun
-
There's no steering yoke or room for a driver because a driver or staff member isn't needed for operation.—
Charles Singh,
USA Today,
11 May 2026
-
No one’s going to be stuck in a hand-over-hand situation like in a Tesla, with its horrid implementation of a yoke.—
Joel Feder,
The Drive,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Peonage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peonage. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
