slavery

noun

slav·​ery ˈslā-v(ə-)rē 

plural slaveries

1

a

: the practice or institution of holding people as chattel involuntarily and under threat of violence

In reality, though, African forms of slavery didn't compare with the racialized industrial variants that Western empires unleashed upon the world. … Here in the United States … the enslaved were relegated to subhuman status for generations.

—Julian Lucas

Slavery officially ended in New Jersey in 1804, but in practice some people remained slaves until 1865, when the ratification of the 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery in the United States.

—Suzanne Travers

see also chattel slavery

b

: the state of a person who is forced usually under threat of violence to labor for the profit of another

[Frederick] Douglass … escaped from slavery at the age of twenty and quickly emerged as a major orator and leader of the antislavery crusade.

—Manning Marable

The organization says it has helped 135 victims escape sex slavery over the past 10 years.

—Audrey McAvoy

c

: a situation or practice in which people are coerced to work under conditions that are exploitative

… the unit has freed more than 26,000 workers nationwide from debt slavery. Under the practice, common in the Amazon, poor laborers are lured to remote spots where they rack up debts to plantation owners who charge exorbitant prices for everything from food to transportation.

—Vivian Sequera

… a labor union for prisoners that aims "to end prison slavery," announced the start of a nationwide strike inside U.S. prisons. Wages for incarcerated workers are typically measured in cents per hour, and several states … use the labor of prisoners without paying them at all.

—Daniel A. Gross

see also wage slavery

2

: submission to a dominating influence

slavery to habit

… it will probably be left to the next administration to act hopefully in a bold and visionary manner to free us from our slavery to oil.

—Alon Ben-Meir

Synonyms of slavery

• enslavement
• servitude
• bondage
• captivity
• yoke

Examples of slavery in a Sentence

Frederick Douglass was central advocate for the abolition of slavery.

My dad put up with the slavery of working in the coal mines every day of his adult life.

Recent Examples on the Web

The state aimed but failed to pass legislation last year that would condemn the Treaty of Hartford, which in 1638 directed that Pequots who survived the war be sold into slavery. —Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 31 Jan. 2026

The Klan had been targeting those newly freed from slavery, but over the years the law has been revised to apply to a wide range of violations of constitutional rights. —Josh Funk, Chicago Tribune, 31 Jan. 2026

This data point is often weaponized by traditionalists, boxing our families into voiceless tropes that ignore systemic racism, which has plagued the Black community since the dawn of slavery. —Ashley Simpo, Parents, 30 Jan. 2026

Natchez, a new documentary about antebellum tourism in the town of the same name, depicts the tourism industry and its reckoning with—and, at times, lack thereof—the facts of American slavery, and how they have been omitted from house tours and other tourism experiences. —Charlie Hobbs, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Phrases Containing slavery

• anti-slavery
• chattel slavery
• debt-slavery
• wage slavery
• white slavery

Rhymes for slavery

• bravery
• knavery
• savory
• antislavery
• proslavery
• unsavory

Kids Definition

slavery

noun

slav·​ery ˈslāv-(ə-)rē 

1

: drudgery, toil

2

a

: the state of a person who is held in forced servitude

b

: the practice of slaveholding