SERVITUDE Synonyms: 29 Similar and Opposite Words

servitude

noun

ˈsər-və-ˌtüd

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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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 servitude Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a free Black man tricked into servitude for Steve McQueen's uneasy-to-watch yet essential pre-Civil War drama. —

Brian Truitt, USA Today, 12 Mar. 2026 The daughter of a gentleman and a maid, Sophie was orphaned at a young age and forced into servitude by her own father’s wife, the staggeringly bitter and petty Lady Araminta Gun (Katie Leung). —

Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 26 Feb. 2026 On the one hand, Lady Penwood has tormented Sophie since her father’s death, denying her parentage, forcing her into servitude, and working her to the bone. —

Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 19 Feb. 2026 Voters overwhelmingly abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in prisons in 2018. —

Austen Erblat, CBS News, 16 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for servitude

Recent Examples of Synonyms for servitude

slavery

Noun

Supporters of reparations argue the effects of slavery continue to be felt across Africa and the Caribbean generations later.

— Jasmine Baehr, FOXNews.com, 21 June 2026
Juneteenth, which is the newest federal holiday, marks the official end of slavery in the United States when Union troops arrived in Texas to announce that the last enslaved people were finally free.

— Raymond Strickland, CBS News, 21 June 2026