as in slavery
the state of being an enslaved person
having known the misery of enslavement first hand, Frederick Douglass went on devote his life to the cause of making others free
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Recent Examples of enslavement
Grey’s government soon won passage of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, which ended enslavement in most of the British empire.
—
Danielle Allen, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026
The agents were astonished by how obvious Djena’s enslavement seemed to have been, and by the number of people who had failed to act.
—Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
History that begins with enslavement.
—Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
Bertha runs a Pittsburgh boardinghouse with her husband, Seth, played by Cedric the Entertainer, in 1911 and is part of an ensemble of Black characters a generation removed from enslavement.
—Zak Cheney-Rice, Vulture, 13 May 2026
This seems a time to remind ourselves that the country’s historic success, wealth, and power came at a very high price—the enslavement of millions of human beings for 12 generations over the course of 246 years to build a modern nation.
—Time, 12 May 2026
One character, a troubled traveling man named Herald Loomis (Joshua Boone), bears the scars of post-slavery enslavement after being abducted into seven years of hard labor under Joe Turner.
—Rodney Ho, AJC.com, 6 May 2026
The enslavement and separation from his family warped his mind.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 26 Apr. 2026
Moreover, nowhere in the introductory text or contemporary works in the exhibition is there an acknowledgment of California’s history of Indigenous enslavement, of haciendas and missions serving as work camps from the beginning of the Spanish colonial period well into the nineteenth century.
—Horace D. Ballard, Artforum, 22 Apr. 2026
Danielle Allen, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026
The agents were astonished by how obvious Djena’s enslavement seemed to have been, and by the number of people who had failed to act.
—Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
History that begins with enslavement.
—Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
Bertha runs a Pittsburgh boardinghouse with her husband, Seth, played by Cedric the Entertainer, in 1911 and is part of an ensemble of Black characters a generation removed from enslavement.
—Zak Cheney-Rice, Vulture, 13 May 2026
This seems a time to remind ourselves that the country’s historic success, wealth, and power came at a very high price—the enslavement of millions of human beings for 12 generations over the course of 246 years to build a modern nation.
—Time, 12 May 2026
One character, a troubled traveling man named Herald Loomis (Joshua Boone), bears the scars of post-slavery enslavement after being abducted into seven years of hard labor under Joe Turner.
—Rodney Ho, AJC.com, 6 May 2026
The enslavement and separation from his family warped his mind.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 26 Apr. 2026
Moreover, nowhere in the introductory text or contemporary works in the exhibition is there an acknowledgment of California’s history of Indigenous enslavement, of haciendas and missions serving as work camps from the beginning of the Spanish colonial period well into the nineteenth century.
—Horace D. Ballard, Artforum, 22 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enslavement
slavery
Noun
-
Does a child or children born from surrogacy into a loving environment constitute slavery?—
Ann Marie Luft,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 May 2026
-
Through indefatigable research, Kara fixes poorly remembered facts and makes a decent case that the publicity galvanized the movement to abolish British slavery a half century later.—
The Atlantic,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Enslavement.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enslavement. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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