as in slavery
the state of being an enslaved person
the Fugitive Slave Act had the effect of returning enslaved people who had made it to freedom in the North to a brutal life of servitude in the South
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Recent Examples of servitude
So weird that women don’t like being abducted from the hospital and forced into domestic servitude, Kurt!
—
Emma Specter, Vogue, 21 Nov. 2025
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
—JSTOR Daily, 25 Oct. 2025
Peña Lopez is also charged with document servitude.
—Julia Marnin, Miami Herald, 22 Oct. 2025
But the character’s state of servitude is largely hidden in clumsy blocking.
—Frank Rizzo, Variety, 29 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for servitude
Emma Specter, Vogue, 21 Nov. 2025
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
—JSTOR Daily, 25 Oct. 2025
Peña Lopez is also charged with document servitude.
—Julia Marnin, Miami Herald, 22 Oct. 2025
But the character’s state of servitude is largely hidden in clumsy blocking.
—Frank Rizzo, Variety, 29 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for servitude
Recent Examples of Synonyms for servitude
slavery
Noun
-
At the time, abolitionists committed to the eradication of slavery remained a small minority, and most Northerners belonged to either the Whig or Democratic parties.—
Stephen Mihm,
Twin Cities,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Only during the last months of the war, with slavery disintegrating and northern victory all but assured, did exchanges resume.—
Drew Gilpin Faust,
The Atlantic,
8 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Servitude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/servitude. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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