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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 servitude
Even after the ratification of the 13th Amendment, Black people were often forced into other forms of servitude and new types of enslavement.
—
Andrea Wurzburger, People.com, 18 June 2025
Luckily, her daughters come back for her, and after a lifetime of servitude, Yolanda finally gets to fly—no metaphor this time.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 12 June 2025
One viral fake news story, based on no evidence at all, said that Will Smith had sold one of his children into Combs’s servitude.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 3 June 2025
At the academy, students bet huge sums of money and even their freedom for a chance to rise up the strict social hierarchy, where the richest rule as gods, while those with the highest debts are relegated to servitude.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for servitude
Andrea Wurzburger, People.com, 18 June 2025
Luckily, her daughters come back for her, and after a lifetime of servitude, Yolanda finally gets to fly—no metaphor this time.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 12 June 2025
One viral fake news story, based on no evidence at all, said that Will Smith had sold one of his children into Combs’s servitude.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 3 June 2025
At the academy, students bet huge sums of money and even their freedom for a chance to rise up the strict social hierarchy, where the richest rule as gods, while those with the highest debts are relegated to servitude.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for servitude
Recent Examples of Synonyms for servitude
slavery
Noun
-
Florida’s Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, announced on Wednesday that the state would end all vaccine mandates, likening them to slavery.—
Connor Greene,
Time,
3 Sep. 2025
-
What was meant to be a reflective, thought-provoking discussion on slavery and human resilience was flattened into copy-paste commentary.—
Ashanty Rosario,
The Atlantic,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Servitude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/servitude. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share