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

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

— Ann Manov, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 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

Last month, Mottley led a subcommittee of Caribbean leaders that launched a new slavery reparations manifesto during a reparations conference in Ghana.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026
Clark accused some board members of whitewashing history after Young amended the curriculum to remove one definition of slavery for third-graders, citing redundancy.

— Rachel Royster. Produced with AI assistance, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 July 2026

Definition of slavery

Noun

Salem Poor Salem Poor was born into enslavement around 1747 and grew up in Andover, Massachusetts, according to the NPS.

— Catherine Messier, The Providence Journal, 4 July 2026
The beverage that fueled conversations that inspired America's fight for independence — centered on the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — depended on enslavement.

— James Doubek, NPR, 3 July 2026

Definition of enslavement

Noun

From the earliest pioneering expeditions and nighttime escapes from bondage to the modern-day road trip, Americans are a people on the move – restless, ambitious and innovative.

— Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 4 July 2026
Slave owners insisted that human bondage fulfilled God’s will.

— Jim Rasenberger, The Atlantic, 4 July 2026

Definition of bondage

Noun

Forest Service officials, their patience having long evaporated, arrived in force, handcuffing and hauling the occupiers out by the yokes of their flannels, then bulldozing the camp.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
Why, after all, did the feudal lords of the South, loyal to Church and throne, throw off the royal yoke to join the Revolution?

— James Traub, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026

Definition of yoke

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“Peonage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peonage. Accessed 15 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of peonage

noun

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