Synonyms of slaves

slaves 1 of 2

noun

plural of slave

1

as in servants

a person who is considered the property of another person

many American slaves reached freedom in the North through the network known as the Underground Railroad

Synonyms & Similar Words

• servants
• bondmen
• chattels
• serfs
• thralls
• domestics
• helots
• bondwomen
• menials
• attendants
• lackeys
• indentured servants
• handmaidens
• bond servants
• odalisques
• drudges

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• freemen
• freedmen
• slaveholders
• slavers
• masters
• freedwomen
• enslavers
• slave drivers
• taskmasters

2

as in laborers

a person who does very hard or dull work

unappreciated office slaves who perform the necessary but tedious task of filing paperwork

Synonyms & Similar Words

• laborers
• workers
• peons
• toilers
• grubs
• foot soldiers
• grubbers
• pluggers
• drudges
• grunts
• drones
• dogsbodies
• serfs
• drudgers
• sloggers
• workhorses

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• shirkers
• idlers
• loafers
• slugs
• sluggards
• goldbricks
• lazybones
• slouches

slaves

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of slave

as in labors

to devote serious and sustained effort

slaving over a hot stove

Synonyms & Similar Words

• labors
• struggles
• strives
• works
• endeavors
• toils
• plows
• tugs
• drudges
• fags
• grubs
• tries
• sweats
• pegs (away)
• humps
• hustles
• digs (away)
• plugs
• bangs away
• strains
• travails
• beavers (away)
• sweats blood
• applies (oneself)
• plods
• slogs
• buckles (down)
• hammers (away)
• moils
• pitches in
• knuckles down
• attacks
• exercises
• grinds (out)
• drives
• essays
• exerts
• scratches
• digs in
• ekes out
• overworks
• overexerts
• wades
• trudges
• puts out
• scrabbles

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• eases (up)
• breaks
• slackens
• bums
• hangs (around or out)
• slacks (off)
• lets up
• lounges
• goldbricks
• chills
• loafs
• dallies
• dillydallies
• lazes
• hacks (around)
• shirks
• rests
• idles
• goofs (off)
• lolls
• plays
• footles
• reposes
• relaxes
• basks
• unwinds
• trifles
• fribbles
• hangs
• fools around
• monkeys (around)
• vegges out
• potters (around)
• hangs about
• doodles
• putters (around)
• messes around
• dabbles
• goofs (around)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of slaves

Noun

In some versions, she’s described as a morally deplorable witch taking part in the abuse of runaway slaves who was ultimately burned for her misdeeds and buried near the cemetery. — Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026

The legend goes that on foggy nights, during the full moon, those standing at the Cooksey Drive Overlook in Seal Harbor, just outside Acadia National Park, can hear the slaves in the hold of a sinking ship crying for help. — Marcus Librizzi, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026

The Georgetown initiative focuses on descendants of slaves sold by Georgetown’s Jesuit priests to slaveholders in Louisiana. — Fatima Hussein, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026

The Georgetown initiative focuses on descendants of slaves sold by Georgetown's Jesuit priests to slaveholders in Louisiana. — ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026

Bamboo slips from Shuihudi count the work of young slaves as units of production, and slips held by the Yuelu Academy describe apprenticeships in state workshops. — News Desk, Artforum, 21 Oct. 2026

Also a list of the true names and addresses of all former slaves, along with their actual occupations and 1858 yearly incomes, which, surprising no one, were right on par with the incomes of similar whites. — George Saunders, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026

The idea of animals as slaves of their instincts or mindless automatons evaporates. — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 29 Sep. 2026

In the 1800s, slaves stood on the southern bank and looked across to freedom. — Hannah Agran, Midwest Living, 12 Sep. 2026

Verb

Things are equally akilter in his family’s home, with his mother now sitting on the couch watching TV while his father slaves away in the kitchen. — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019