as in serfdom
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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
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For them, freedom meant ending serfdom too.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Sep. 2025
-
Kollwitz’ life also coincided with the final days of aristocratic feudalism and serfdom in Germany and the nation’s economic transition to Industrialism.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
24 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Her name is Sophie Beckett, the daughter of an earl who was forced into servitude by her cruel stepmother after her father’s death.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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The last World Cup, Bertoli notes, was held in Qatar, an energy-rich constitutional monarchy where freedom of association and expression is heavily restricted and thousands of migrant workers are held in conditions that have been likened to slavery or servitude.—
Kevin Baxter,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Advertisement Lincoln’s birthday was already a celebrated day in many states, as people chose to honor his role in preserving the Union during the Civil War and moving to abolish slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation.—
Tiago Ventura,
Time,
14 Feb. 2026
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Other more doc-style moments digress to explore the family’s history, which stretches all the way back to when Guinea-Bissau was a Portuguese colony and slavery abounded.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Her mother is believed to be Matilda Foster, who was born into enslavement.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
13 Feb. 2026
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The network promotes the history of resistance to enslavement through historic sites having verifiable connections to the Underground Railroad.—
Susan DeGrane,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Shibari is Japanese rope bondage.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Feb. 2026
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By smashing together heavy atoms of lead traveling at near-light speeds using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), scientists can create a high-energy environment that briefly frees gluons and quarks from this atomic bondage, recreating the quark-gluon plasma of the early universe.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
An abrasion-resistant Cordura overlay covers the shoulders, hood and upper sleeves for extra durability, and an extra layer of synthetic down in the yoke, upper sleeves, and draft flap improve heat retention.—
Graham Averill,
Outside,
4 Feb. 2026
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The jeans feature a four-piece contour waistband to avoid waistline gaps, and an exclusive yoke-over-body construction with angled back pockets to highlight curves.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Peonage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peonage. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
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