1
as in enslavement
the state of being an enslaved person
a child born into slavery
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in labor
very hard or unpleasant work
endured the slavery of working in the coal mines every day of his adult life
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 slavery
As Black History Month begins, the Blairsville Underground Railroad Museum shares the stories of slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction and beyond — through the lens of Indiana County.
—
Josh Taylor, CBS News, 7 Feb. 2026
And farther off, toward the mountains, the Cimarronaje—the settlements of the Black Seminoles and Mascogos who, on escaping slavery, became colonists of a territory that asked for their protection in exchange for ownership.
—Literary Hub, 6 Feb. 2026
Gone with the Wind earned Margaret Mitchell the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937, though many themes of the book are recognized as problematic today, including racist and stereotypical depictions of Black characters and the glorifications of slavery and the Civil War.
—Amanda Favazza, Southern Living, 6 Feb. 2026
Sculptures of the Number 1 designed by Mural Arts Philadelphia will be placed at sites all over the city, commemorating the first Chinese gate built in America, the first volunteer fire company, the first public protest against slavery and the first women's medical college.
—Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 6 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for slavery
Josh Taylor, CBS News, 7 Feb. 2026
And farther off, toward the mountains, the Cimarronaje—the settlements of the Black Seminoles and Mascogos who, on escaping slavery, became colonists of a territory that asked for their protection in exchange for ownership.
—Literary Hub, 6 Feb. 2026
Gone with the Wind earned Margaret Mitchell the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937, though many themes of the book are recognized as problematic today, including racist and stereotypical depictions of Black characters and the glorifications of slavery and the Civil War.
—Amanda Favazza, Southern Living, 6 Feb. 2026
Sculptures of the Number 1 designed by Mural Arts Philadelphia will be placed at sites all over the city, commemorating the first Chinese gate built in America, the first volunteer fire company, the first public protest against slavery and the first women's medical college.
—Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 6 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for slavery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slavery
Noun
-
Her mother is believed to be Matilda Foster, who was born into enslavement.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
13 Feb. 2026
-
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
-
Freezer operations typically require specialized protective gear, shorter shifts, and strict exposure limits, all of which drive higher labor costs.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Raman would have to peel off labor from Bass, who has counted on and rewarded their support from Sacramento to Washington to City Hall for over two decades.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
The collar will help scientists understand the movement patterns and reproductive behavior of the Sierra Nevada red fox, providing key insights to guide conservation efforts.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
-
The former county clerk in Colorado was convicted of multiple crimes for letting someone access data from a secure voting system in an effort to prove unsubstantiated 2020 election conspiracies.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
Where there was once bondage, there is now liberation.—
Essence,
Essence,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Perhaps there is a way to acknowledge head-on that recovery is, essentially, drudgery, and to make that compelling onstage.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Your inner lover girl is dying for some time in the sun, for a vacation from your usual drudgeries.—
Steph Koyfman,
Condé Nast Traveler,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
David and Ariel Cunio, who were among the last Israeli hostages to be freed from Gaza after two years of captivity last October, will travel to Berlin next week for a screening of Tom Shoval’s A Letter To David – The Complete Version.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Under the terms of the Dix-Hill agreement, some 30,000 prisoners were returned from captivity by the fall, but the formal exchange arrangement was soon upended.—
Drew Gilpin Faust,
The Atlantic,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The conceit of narrating a year in one’s life through the toils and sensations of the kitchen is one that many have taken up before.—
Hannah Goldfield,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Later in the season, after the Bridgerton sons playfully throw shaving foam at each other, a maid is shown scrubbing the floor, the furniture, and the walls, their fun and folly now her toil.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Slavery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slavery. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
