peonage

noun

Definition of peonagenext
as in serfdom

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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 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
  1. serfdom
  2. servitude
  3. slavery
  4. enslavement
  5. bondage
  6. yoke
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
  • Countless stories of Zeke’s kindness, bravery and commitment to a life of servitude took up the nearly eight-hour hearing.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 24 July 2026
  • 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
Definition of servitude
Noun
  • Massachusetts was the first state to abolish slavery, and since the 1800s, Martha’s Vineyard and Inkwell Beach have been a renowned getaway for Black families, for Black freedom and Black expression.
    — Doug Melville, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
  • But many said that more reflective representation matters given the nation’s history, from slavery to Jim Crow and the lingering effects.
    — Steven Sloan, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of slavery
Noun
  • Some were written by people who experienced enslavement, others were dictated, and some were preserved through oral traditions.
    — Reginald David, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2026
  • While Homer followed warriors sailing home from Troy, the playwright Euripides — writing some three centuries later — turned to the city’s ruins and its women, forced into exile and enslavement.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of enslavement
Noun
  • This display of light bondage proved merely an amuse-bouche to the erotic banquet that Fennell had prepared.
    — Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2026
  • According to court records, Conahan, an unemployed nurse, lured Montgomery into the woods in northern Charlotte County to take nude bondage photos.
    — CBS Miami Team, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of bondage
Noun
  • The yoke seam runs inverted, sitting over the leg panel rather than beneath it.
    — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 14 Aug. 2026
  • The yoke-like steering features hammered aluminum bits, referencing the armor worn by medieval knights.
    — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of yoke

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Cite this Entry

“Peonage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peonage. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on peonage

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about peonage

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